80 H. P. STEENSBY. 
and ultimately, during spring, the seals which sun themselves on the ice 
are hunted (Utok hunting). Throughout the period spent on the ice snow 
houses are used as dwellings, and the people live more or less scattered, in 
accordance with the necessities of the chase. 
During summer a further scattering takes place. The main part of the 
Baffinlanders go inland for the purpose of fishing and hunting reindeer; but 
in certain localities small groups of them remain on the coast to hunt the 
larger species of seal and the walrus, and, formerly, the whale. In the interior 
of the country the tents are pitched in those valleys which lead from the 
interior to the coast, and along which the reindeer herds must pass on their 
wanderings. The method of reindeer hunting mostly followed is to kill them 
from the kayak while they are swimming across a river or lake. The hunters 
either lie in wait at a river where reindeer herds are accustomed to arrive, 
or the herds are driven into the water from narrow peninsulas or by means 
of two converging rows of stones. Such rows of stones, usually leading into 
a lake or into the sea, occur everywhere in Baffin Land, and some of them 
appear to be very old'. Salmon are caught with the three-pronged spear. 
To lure fish, an artificial bait is used; artificial dams are also thrown up 
to shut out the fish from the sea. Fishing hooks are used, and very old 
forms have been found. 
During summer the larger seals and the White Whale are captured 
from kayaks, and in former times the large White Whales were pursued in 
the umiak. The umiaks play the most important role along the outer coasts 
of Davis Strait itself, where the sea is open for a longer time than within 
Cumberland Sound. According to Boas’s? observations just the reverse is the 
case as regards the kayak. Even in 1884 many years had passed since any 
kayak had been built at the fjords of the east side of the Cumberland 
peninsula. 
The dog sledge is, however, the Baffinlanders’ chief means of conveyance; 
it is nowhere wanting, and it is of especial importance as regards seal 
hunting on ice during winter. Frequently, only two forms of dwellings 
are used, the tent during the summer and the snow house during the winter; 
but occasionally more solidly built houses of stone and earth are also built. 
From the numerous ruins Boas concludes that in former times such houses 
were more frequently used than at the present day. The houses are rounded 
and are frequently dug in the slope of a hill-side. The roof has usually been 
supported by whale-ribs and was of seal skins stretched over the whale-ribs 
and covered with a thick layer of Andromeda and over that a layer of earth. 
Each house has as a rule been occupied by two families. In kind, and partly 
in form, the implements of the Baffinlanders resemble in most points those 
of the Greenlanders. Intercourse with Europeans has now produced changes 
in the material, but not to any great degree in the forms. 
Bois 1 р. 501. 
> II, р. 486. 
