hall's ESQUIMAUX. 185 



not allude to the subject, but other travellers have tried in vain to 

 make the natives comprehend the idea of war. Nor does crime ap- 

 pear to prevail among them. Polygamy is permitted, but even their 

 best hunters cannot obtain and retain more than two or three wives. 



In the far north boats are unknown, but the Southern Esquimaux 

 show wonderful ingeuuity in the construction and management of 

 their boats or kayacks. Some of them are even able to turn, boat 

 and all, head over heels in the water. 



Capt. Hall found them " a kind, generous people," and to some of 

 them, indeed, he seems to have been sincerely attached. Too Koolito 

 was a special favourite. Capt. Hall " could not help admiring the 

 " exceeding gracefulness and modesty of her demeanour. Simple 

 " and gentle in her way, there was a degree of calm intellectual 

 " power about her that more and more astonished me." Still, he 

 condemns strongly their inattention to the sick and dead. No kind 

 friends and aiFectionate relations soothe the last moments of the 

 dying Innuit. When life is despaired of, they are left alone, the 

 snow hut or the tent is closed up, a few simple implements and 

 a small store of food are placed by their side, and thus they are left 

 to their fate. At first sight this certainly appears to say little in 

 their favour. Nevertheless, if the picture which has been drawn of 

 them, both by Capt. Hall and by previous observers, — their strong 

 affection for one another, their readiness to share the last piece of 

 meat, the last drop of oil, be not very inaccurate, we should be dis- 

 posed to look for some explanation of the apparently heartless 

 custom to which we have alluded. Among the many Esquimaux ob- 

 served by Capt. Hall, one was a blind man, who must have been de- 

 pendent upon the affections of his relatives. Another was a very old 

 woman, who could certainly have done but little to supply herself 

 with food. Among a small community who were often on the very- 

 verge of starvation, the presence of such individuals as these is incom- 

 patible with the cold selfishness which the custom of leaving the dying 

 to their fate would appear to indicate. I should, therefore, almost 

 be disposed to account for this, in our eyes, unnatural practice by 

 the existence of some curious superstition ; and this is certainly- 

 encouraged by the idea that no implements nor dresses which are 

 present in a dwelling which has been the scene of death ought ever 

 to be used again. Thus, their inutility to the living, rather than any 

 notion that they could be useful to the dead, accounts for the various 

 objects generally found in an Esquimaux grave, 



N.H.R.— 1865. O 



