772 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



few antiquated matrons, my aversion toward my future fellow-residents 

 reached its highest point. It really seemed as if the ugliest of the ugly 

 had been selected to receive us, for I was afterward surprised by many 

 a cheerful and pleasant face, or a strong, well-built figure. These first 

 Eskimos appeared at least relatively neat, for they had probably held 

 a grand feast of purification before the arrival of the ship. I had an 

 opportunity to observe what a good influence intercourse with the 

 whites had had upon the natives, when I came into a settlement on 

 Davis Strait, which had never been visited by a European. I would 

 not undertake to describe the appearance it presented, so odious was 

 it. When I related to the Eskimos of Cumberland Sound the un- 

 happy experiences I had suffered in the oily and filthy huts of this 

 tribe, they answered : " We are like the cleanly gulls, which have, in- 

 deed, to look to the oil and fat of seals and walruses for their food, 

 but still keep their feathers tidy ; but they are like the Mollimoke, 

 which wallow in blood and fat, and do not mind any kind of dirt." 



The fur dresses of our Eskimos appear to be well made, and 

 adorned with trimmings of different kinds of skins. Particular atten- 

 tion seemed to have been given to the reindeer-skin jackets of the 

 women, with their long tails reaching to the ground, and to the wide 

 hoods in which the children are carried. The short breeches reaching 

 to the knee, of white seal-pups' skin, were very handsome. After- 

 ward, when I became better acquainted with my new friends, I per- 

 ceived what a disadvantage an indolent woman could be, even in this 

 country, when she can not or will not keep up with her household 

 duties. The clothes of the family too often bear witness to her neg- 

 lect, and I have sometimes pitied the poor men who have to go to 

 their seal-hunting in cold winter weather, without enough clothing. 

 Among the first women who visited us were some unusually adorned 

 with a cotton garment, which was occasionally exposed under their fur 

 jackets. The men also appeared to be well clothed in seal-skin jack- 

 ets, small hoods, and breeches ornamented with variously colored furs. 

 Their long hair, loosely fluttering about their heads, gave them a wild 

 appearance ; but their quiet eyes, and the childish pleasure they ex- 

 hibited on every opportunity, contradicted this. They all greatly 

 enjoyed the much-desired tobacco, for the provision at the station 

 had given out some time before, and they had been obliged, willing or 

 unwilling, to practice abstinence, and not to smoke. When they had 

 got entirely out, they had broken up their clay pipes and chewed the 

 pieces for the sake of the taste of the little tobacco that had been ab- 

 sorbed in them. 



A little while after casting anchor, we visited the summer tents of 

 the natives. We had not got very close to them before their prox- 

 imity became quite obvious by the strong odor of the skins of which 

 they were made. The front part, which is made of split, serai-trans- 

 parent skins, impressed itself very strongly and disagreeably on my 



