hall's ESQUIMAUX. 179 



take place in the human body, and the ordinary processes of com- 

 bustion are remarkably brought out by the above-mentioned facts. 

 The same substance, namely, the oil of the seal, serves botb as food 

 and as fuel : it raises the temperature of the Esquimaux, and enables 

 him to maintain an internal warmth, perhaps even greater than that 

 of an ordinary Englishman, while the thermometer stands far below 

 zero ; and it does this, whether burnt in the lamp as fuel, or in the 

 Esquimaux as food. 



Capt. Hall gives some interesting particulars as to the habits of 

 Arctic animals. The seal, for instance, forms for itself an igloo, in 

 which it brings forth its young, and which has apparently served as 

 a model for those used by the Esquimaux. This happens about 

 the 1st of April. The prospective mother works her way upwards 

 through the ice, on the surface of which she scoops out a semi- 

 circular excavation in the snow, scraping it away witb her forefeet, 

 and carrying it down beneath the thick ice. None but very sharp 

 scented animals, such as the polar bear, the fox, and the seal dog, 

 can find these igloos. " By the time the sun melts off the covering 

 " snow, exposing and destroying the dome of the igloo, the young 

 " seal is ready to take care of itself." Although a popular writer 

 has recently assured us that the seal can remain for a whole winter 

 below the water, we need hardly remind our readers that this is not 

 the case. The seal, like the whale, and all other mammalia, must 

 come up to the surface from time to time for the purpose of respira- 

 tion. Each seal, therefore, has at least one breathing hole in the ice. 

 When an Esquimaux, by the aid of his dog, has found one of these 

 breathing holes, he thrusts his spear down through the hard snow to 

 ascertain the exact locality of the hole, '' which is not more than one 

 " or two inches in diameter. After, perhaps, a dozen attempts, he 

 " finally strikes the hole. Now, he carefully withdraws his spear, and 

 " marks with his eye the hole which leads down through perhaps 18 

 " to 24 inches depth of snow. When now he hears the seal, he raises 

 " his spear, and strikes unerringly through the snow to the seal's head. 

 " The animal at once dives and runs out to the full length of the line, 

 " one end of which is fast in the hand of the sealer. He proceeds to 

 " cut away the deep snow, and to chisel the ice, so as to enlarge the 

 " top of the seal hole, from which he soon draws forth his prize." 

 This mode of sealing requires great patience, and the Esquimaux 

 has sometimes to wait two or three days and nights, in constant 

 expectation, before he secures his prey. 



