THE ESKIMO OF STUPART BAY. 101 



them with the hands and teeth. The Eskimo of Hudson Straits 

 seem to have no method of tanning skins. 



The ship left us Aug. 22nd, and we all settled down to woi-k 

 getting things into shape, I and my assistant, Mr. Bennett, adjusting 

 the instruments, the men making the house as snug and comfortable 

 as circumstances would admit of. During the latter part of August 

 and early part of September the weather was generally unsettled, 

 with a preponderance of easterly winds and a good deal of light snow. 

 Aug. 23rd and 25th were the only really warm pleasant days we had ; 

 on these days there was bright sunshine, and the temperature rose to 

 between 45° and 50°, but clouds of mosquitoes (" Kitorraya," the 

 natives call them) rather interfered with the enjoyment of the fair 

 weather. Until after the 6th of Sept. thei'e was a good deal of drift 

 ice off the coast, and whenever the wind was from the S. E. our 

 little bay was quite blocked up with it. Almost every day we were 

 visited by a large number of women and children, who continued 

 bringing all sorts of things to trade for tobacco, but we saw but little 

 of the men, who were generally out hunting in their kyaks. 



On Sept. 23rd the Neptune returned from her trip across Hudson 

 Bay. She remained a day and a half, and during the time she lay 

 at anchor every man, woman and child who could possibly get there 

 was either loitering about near the house or hovering round the ship 

 in kyaks, calling out for tobacco and matches. From the time the 

 ship left us, on the 24th Sept., until about the middle of November, 

 we were not much troubled by the natives. They were still living 

 in their toopicks, and I fancy that almost all of them having obtained 

 a fair amount of tobacco from the men on board the ship were con- 

 tented to leave us in peace for a time. On Oct. 24th the tempera- 

 ture fell to zero, and the Bay and Straits as far as I could see were 

 frozen over. 



Without seals and deer, the Eskimo could not exist. Their food 

 is seal's meat and venison, both generally eaten raw but occasion- 

 ally cooked ; their dress is of the skins of seals and deer ; their 

 habitation is for at least a portion of the year formed of sealskin, 

 and their boats are of the same material. 



The kyak is a most ingenious contrivance, and, I believe, peculiar 

 to the Eskimo. A framework of small wood is formed, from 15 to 

 20 feet long, about 18 inches broad in the middle, tapering to both 

 ends, and not over a foot in de[)th ; the whole is covered with seal- 



