54 TRIBES OF BRITISH NORTH AMERICA 



and near to the point of contact is a small pile of 

 tinder ; that is very finely powdered wood, which is 

 kept quite dry. The peg of hard wood can be made 

 to spin round rapidly by twisting it in a bow string, 

 which is made tight, then released suddenly. Boys 

 at school adopt a similar method for spinning a 

 disc of cardboard, or setting a toy aeroplane in 

 flight. The rapid twirling of the hard peg sets up 

 a great deal of heat, which causes the tinder to 

 smoulder, then to burst into flame when gently 

 blown. 



Presently the work is put on one side, and after 

 a hearty meal has been made from the flesh and 

 warm blood of a young seal, stories of great age 

 are told concerning the perils of the hunter, and the 

 wanderings of the Eskimo people over the great ice 

 fields of Hudson Bay or Davis Strait. Eagerly we 

 listen, and although the names are very long and 

 strange to our ears, we may judge that the favourite 

 stories are not unlike our own tales of love and 

 valour, with this exception, that the Eskimo has no 

 knowledge of writing, so stories are handed down 

 from one generation to another by word of mouth, 

 while, to amuse the children, the story-teller will 

 make little sketches of the chief characters in his 

 narrative. 



A long, long time ago a young man, whose name 

 was Itit, went timidly to the hut of a young orphan 

 girl, in order to ask whether she would become his 

 wife. However, as he was very shy, and afraid to 

 speak to the young girl for himself, he called her 

 little brother, who was playing before the hut, and 

 said : &quot; Go to your sister, and ask her if she will 



