50 THE NORTH POLE 



suffixes, by which they extend a word to a considerable 

 length from the original stem. The language is rela- 

 tively easy to acquire, and during my first summer in 

 Greenland I gained a fair knowledge of it. In addition 

 to their ordinary speech, they have an esoteric language 

 known only to the adults of the tribe. I cannot say 

 wherein it differs from the other, having made no 

 attempt to learn it, and I doubt if any white man has 

 been fully taught this secret speech, as the knowledge 

 is carefully guarded by its possessors. 



The Eskimos of this region have not, as a rule, 

 applied themselves to the study of English, for they 

 were clever enough to see that we could learn their 

 language more easily than they could learn ours. 

 Occasionally, however, an Eskimo will startle all hands 

 by rolling out an English phrase or sentence, and, like 

 a parrot, he seems to have a special aptitude in picking 

 up from the sailors phrases of slang or profanity. 



On the whole, these people are much like children, 

 and should be treated as such. They are easily elated, 

 easily discouraged. They delight in playing tricks on 

 each other and on the sailors, are usually good-natured, 

 and when they are sulky there is no profit in being 

 vexed with them. The methods which children char- 

 acterize as "jollying" are best for such emergencies. 

 Their mercurial temperament is Nature's provision for 

 carrying them through the long dark night, for if they 

 were morose like the North American Indians, the 

 whole tribe would long ago have lain down and died 

 of discouragement, so rigorous is their lot. 



In managing the Eskimos it is necessary to make 

 a psychological study of them, and to consider their 



