228 LIFE AMONG THE ESKIMOS 



times leads to violent scenes, the end of which generally is that the woman re- 

 ceives either a vigorous castigation or the blade of a knife in her arm or leg, 

 after which the relation between the two becomes as cordial as ever, especially 

 if the woman has children. * * * 



"Their hands and feet are alike unusually small and well shaped. Their 

 hair is absolutely black and quite straight, resembling horse hair. The men 

 often tie it back from the forehead with a string of beads and leave it to fall 

 down over the shoulders. Some who wear no such band have the hair cut 

 above the forehead, or round the whole head, with the jawbone of a shark, as 

 their superstitions will not allow them on any account to let iron come in con- 

 tact with it. But, curiously enough a man who has begun to cut his hair in his 

 youth must necessarily continue the practice all his life. The women gather 

 their hair up from behind and tie it with a string of sealskin into a cone, which 

 must stand as perpendicularly as possible. This convention is especially strin- 

 gent in the case of young unmarried women, who, to obtain the desired result, 

 tie their hair back from the forehead and temples so tightly that by degrees it 

 gradually gives way, and they become bald at a very early age." * * * 



The hospitality of this desolate coast is quite unbounded. A man will re- 

 ceive his worst enemy, and entertain him for months if circumstances throw 

 him in his way. The nature of their surroundings and the wandering life 

 which they lead have forced them to offer and accept universal hospitality, and 

 the habit has gradually become a law among them. 



Eskimo society has one great principle underlying it: Community of in- 

 terest. If a hunter finds game and buries it under a stone, another hunter may 

 come that way and take the meat without any protest being made. Says As- 

 trup, who accompanied Peary on his first great journey : "The tribe forms 

 a single fam.ily, and each member, without exception, consecrates the work of 

 his life to the common good. 



"It is extremely seldom that Esquimaux quarrel, and when a disagreement 

 occurs it is a very tame affair. The parties do not talk loudly or call each 

 other names, but simply separate. They are quiet and gentle people, and very 

 much dislike anything in the way of disturbance or discord." 



Another thing that may not be generally credited to these swarthy folk is 

 that they are intelligent, and almost invariably truthful. Simple-hearted they 

 of course are, so that by promises of beads and other ornaments explorers have 

 been able to convince them of things that were not true; but it is the unani- 

 mous belief of most men who have lived among the north people that their 



