ESKIMOS AT HOME AND AT WORK 65 



another wolf with a beautiful coat, and fired. The 

 shot took effect, and the beast fell dead, when fortu 

 nately for Nimrod the whole pack of wolves, as though 

 seized with panic, fled by the way they had come. 



Whatever our ideas of the ferocity of the wolf and 

 Polar bear may be, the Eskimo evidently shares 

 none of our fear or dread, as is instanced by the way 

 he will sometimes lure wolves, which he sees in the 

 distance, towards him, that he may have a shot at 

 them. Lying down upon his back on the ice he will 

 kick and move his legs about in a peculiar manner, 

 imitating certain movements of the reindeer s antlers 

 when the deer is browsing. The wolves, beguiled by 

 the deception, come warily down, the hunter gets 

 his shot, bags his game, and the scared and discom 

 fited survivors of the pack make off to ruminate 

 upon the extraordinary power possessed by some 

 reindeer. 



In summer the kayak is a necessary part of an 

 Eskimo s equipment both for travel and the hunt. 

 It is a roomy canoe, which is made by stretching seal 

 skin over a framework. Before the advent of the 

 white man, this framework used to be made of 

 whalebone. But as the natives learned the value 

 of the bone in trade, a very inferior substitute took 

 its place, and the skeleton was made of wood. The 

 diminishing yearly catch of whales also helped to 

 bring about this result. Long and perilous journeys 

 are often undertaken in these frail craft. 



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