152 CRUISE of THE NEPTUNE 
early winter months, when many of them travel southward 
along the coast. 
The months of January and February are passed by the 
Eskimos on the journey to the trading post, where a short stay 
of a few days is made to dry the fox-skins caught during the 
winter, and' to trade these along with deer and other skins in 
the shop. There is no cash used in these transactions; the skins 
are handed over to the trader, who values them from a standard 
of a white fox skin. when the amount has been made up, he 
hands to the native a number of tokens representing the value 
of his hunt in fox-skins. The usual tariff is about as follows : 
White fox = 1 skin. Mink = 1 skin. 
Blue fox = 2 skins. Marten = 2 skins. 
Cross fox = 5 to 15 skins. White bear=4 to 10 skins. 
Silver fox = 15 to 40 skins. deerskin=1/2 Skin. 
otter=4 to 8 skins. 
The Eskimo trades back, over the counter, the tokens received 
for his hunt. The first purchase is a supply of tobacco : next 
comes ammunition, and then follow tools, cheap clothing, 
needles, tin kettles, knives, files, &c., until his stock of tokens 
is used up. The immediate profit on the goods supplied is very 
great, but when the cost of transport and the maintenance of 
the post are taken into account the profit, which appears enor- 
mous at first, is found to be not excessive, considering the 
precarious nature of the fur trade, with its fluctuating market 
and the chances against good hunts. 
The trading completed, the natives collect in large bands on 
the ice, usually in the vicinity of some long crack or other place 
where seals are abundant, and spend the next month going from 
encampment to encampment visiting friends and exchanging 
the news. with the first signs of mild Weather a start is made 
northward. Life now is very pleasant; the days are long and 
becoming mild; seals are killed in large numbers on the ice, 
as they lie basking and sleeping in the warm sun. A good  
