THE ESKIMO OF STUPART BAY. 103 



feet, and on the raised part is spread a lot of dry moss and sea-weed 

 to form the beds. Two smaller igloos are built to the south of that 

 in which the people live and do double duty as porches and kennels 

 for the dogs ; there is also generally a small igloo built with an open- 

 in" into the porch, which is used as a storehouse for any surplus 

 supply of meat they happen to have. The number of people inhab- 

 iting an igloo varies from about 8 to 1 4 ; it ordinarily comprises an 

 elderly man — the head of the family — and his wife and one or two 

 married sons with their wives and children. It seemed to me that 

 the boys far exceeded the girls in numbers, b\it of this I cannot be 

 certain. 



The worldly possessions owned in common by the members of a 

 family are not numerous. They ordinarily consist of a tent for sum- 

 mer use, a few small tin-pails, used for melting ice during the win- 

 ter, one or more lamps, according to the number of women in the 

 tent each grown-up woman having a lamp, a few stone dishes 

 and pots, and some skins used as bed-covering. Each individual, as 

 a rule, has two suits of clothing ; a man generally but not invariably 

 owns a kyak, a muzzle-loading gun, obtained in trade with the Hud- 

 son Bay Co., together with caps, powder and bullets, knives and a 

 spear, a lance-head with a long coil of walrus-line and a bladder used 

 as a float for the harpoon-line, when a seal or walrus is struck. A 

 woman has a semi-circular knife used for scraping skins, a few 

 needles, some sinew for thread, a bone thimble, and, if lucky, some 

 ornaments in the shape of beads. Belonging to each family is gener- 

 ally a team of from five to ten dogs and two sleighs, called by them 

 commatiks, one of which, about 8 feet long, is used with all the dogs 

 when moving their quarters, and the other, just large enough for one 

 man, is drawn by two dogs and is used for hunting on the ice. The 

 dogs are generally a trifle smaller in size than our English setter and 

 in color vary almost from black to a dirty yellow ; they have sharp 

 pointed snouts and bushy tails which curl over the back ; they are 

 vicious and savage but, I think, great cowards. The Eskimo would 

 be lost without dogs, all travelling is done by means of them, and 

 they are good scavengers. An igloo and its vicinity is always filthily 

 dirty, but were it not for the dogs it would be ten times worse. 



The men spend the greater part of their time hunting. In sum- 

 mer they sleep but little ; in winter they often hunt during the 

 short period of daylight, but they sleep a great deal. On the women 



