ESKIMOS AT HOME AND AT WORK 55 



the death of his parents-in-law that the man is com- 

 pletely his own master. 



The list of things necessary for starting house- 

 keeping is an extremely limited one. The lady 

 needs her sewing materials a circular knife for 

 cutting out skin garments, a stone kettle, and a 

 lamp. The gentleman's outfit consists of his 

 dogs' sledge and hunting weapons. He joins no 

 building society ; purchases no building site ; knows 

 no landlord, no tax-gatherer, no rate-collector ; 

 leases and agreements are farther removed from 

 him than the myths of the Greeks; he knows 

 only one system of dwelling upon the earth, 

 namely, that of God's freehold, and he builds his 

 snow-house or pitches his tent, according to the 

 season, where he will ; and when game is fairly 

 abundant he appears to lead a very happy life. 



Polygamy is not common among the Eskimos ; 

 it is not, however, regarded as improper. It is 

 probably the difficulty of providing for more 

 than one wife and family which keeps the prac- 

 tice within bounds. Divorce is quite common, 

 and wives are put away at times for the most frivo- 

 lous causes. It may be readily understood that the 

 sanctity of the marriage bond cannot be held in 

 very high estimation when religion itself or friend- 

 ship can not only sanction, but demand, a temporary 

 exchange of wives. 



Widows are generally cared for by their relatives. 





