CHAPTER XIII 



The Eskimo baby Abraha in bed Eskimo names Choosing sur 

 names Girls and their dolls Boys at play Learning to be 

 men Punting on the ice In school. 



WHO would not be an Eskimo baby ? 

 The very first nest it goes into is 

 a charming bag of baby-reindeer 

 skin, with the fur inside, soft and warm ; and 

 there the baby sleeps, safe from all draughts 

 and chills and cold toes. Hung on the wall, 

 or propped against the end of the bed, the 

 bag looks like a giant watch-pocket ; indeed, 

 one good Eskimo housewife must have been 

 struck by the likeness herself, for she brought 

 me a miniature one when I left Labrador, 

 and told me that it would do to keep my 

 watch from getting sick with the frost. 



The baby spends most of its early days 

 asleep in its bag, stuffed feet downwards into 

 the hood of its mother s sealskin or blanket 

 dicky, but as time passes and it begins to feel 

 the desire to kick, it discards the pocket and 

 nestles in the depths of the hood, and you 

 may see its beady and wide-awake eyes 



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