286 FOUR-FOOTED AMERICANS 



hands Avide apart and wi-inkling" liis face as if he re- 

 membered a very bad smelL '' Next to the oil in value, 

 comes the hide. AVhen it is stretched and well dried 

 it makes a fine cover for boats, tliat is stronger to stand 

 the sharp-edged ice than any wood could be ; the hide 

 also serves to make harness for the Eskimo's sledge 

 dogs. The strong sinews of the back make thongs for 

 bird and fish nets, boot laces, and thread for sewing 

 boat covers and clothes. The gullet or throat is used 

 for boot legs, with the flipper bottoms fitted on for 

 soles. The intestines, which are perhaps sixty feet 

 long, are cut in strips, and when stretched and dried 

 are sewn together to make the Avaterproof clothing that 

 these people wear in their fishing and hunting." 



'' Oh, dear, how much tlie poor Eskimo women must 

 have to sew I *' murmured Dodo, '' and what long seams ; 

 I've seen jMammy lUiii take those wormy looking insides 

 out of a chicken, and even they were ever so long ! " 



'' 'I'he tusks, though of a poor quality of ivory, serve 

 many purposes, not the least of them being to trade 

 away for such iron and steel articles as the Eskimo 

 needs but cannot make. Now you can Avell understand 

 how he could not live long without the beast that yields 

 him so much. But greedy people, Avho have many other 

 Avays to make a living, do not think of this, and fit out 

 steam vessels that can go ever}^ where, Avith guns that 

 kill from far, and take from the Eskimo liis all. 



" This AValrus is a first cousin to the Sea Bear or 

 Fur Seal of the jacket, and Ave must go doAvn the 

 Behring Straits to catch him in his home. Down past 

 the St. Lawrence and St. ^latthew Islands, the Walrus' 

 summer haunts, Ave come to the Pribilof Islands, — St. 



