The Material Culture of the Eskimo in West Greenland. 205 



in the shop, and very sharp. It is held in such a manner that the 

 handle comes out between the third and fourth fingers. 



The seal is laid on its back in the middle of the floor. With 

 one single stroke, hide and blubber is cut through, in the mid line 

 from the anus to the tip of the lower jaw. Seizing the edge with 

 the left hand, the blubber is peeled from the muscle on the belly, 

 the side and round to the middle line of the back, first on one and 

 then on the other side. Now and then an incision is made in the 

 muscle, with a stroke of the corner of the Ulo, so that one finger 

 can grasp and support the body of the animal, while it, as it were, 

 rolls out of the blubber. When the woman gets to the fore-limbs, 

 she grasps the paw, makes a circular cut round the joint and breaks 

 it, so that the paw remains in the skin. The belly is opened, and 

 the intestines, stomach and smaller adhering organs are removed, 

 with the exception of the liver. A piece of the rectum together 

 with the urethra is left behind temporarily; the breast-bone is cut 

 out by means of two parallel cuts, the Ulo being held so that it 

 makes a rift with the corner rather than a proper cut. The lungs 

 and liver are then removed, the heart is opened, the blood flows 

 out into the breast and belly cavities and is scooped up in the 

 palms of the hands which are held together. The chest is scored 

 with the corner of the Ulo on the inside across the middle line of 

 the ribs and is there broken. Then both sides are loosened along 

 the backbone and the four flat pieces are now cut up into smaller 

 pieces with two or three ribs in each, according to the size of the 

 animal. Each "piece" is a share, but that is no hindrance to having 

 more than one helping at a meal. The hindpaws are cut off like 

 the forepaws; the pubic symphysis is cut through and the rectum 

 and urethra are taken out. The pelvis is cut into "pieces," the back 

 pieces having the kidneys attached; and the limbs are likewise cut 

 up. When the back is divided up to the neck, the gullet and the 

 windpipe are removed; also the head is flayed out, all but a tiny 

 shred about the nostrils and whiskers. At last the masticatory 

 muscles are cut through and the lower jaw broken off. 



Intestines, stomach, blood and lungs are removed at once; the 

 liver, as well as the numerous "pieces" of meat are left on the blubber 

 till the quartering is completed. The woman keeps standing on 

 her feet at the same side of the animal during the entire per- 

 formance. 



When thus in the course of 15 — 20 minutes the intestines and 

 the blood of the seal have been taken out, and the flesh divided and re- 

 moved, as well as the head and paws, the skin with the blubber 

 attached is still left. Now the woman takes an edge of the skin 

 between her front teeth, and the Ulo is forced down with its entire 

 cutting edge, between blubber and skin while the left hand, with 



