118 



minds, weighing each possibility carefully, but, their minds once 

 made up, they pursue their object with great determination. 

 They are not ungrateful for kindnesses, but their habit of con- 

 sidering food and clothing as the right of everyone has led 

 some explorers to call them ungrateful. Their ethical standard 

 is largely a result of the conditions under which they live, in 

 which each man must be able to rely on the word of his neighbour 

 and give aid when needed, because he never knows when he may 

 be in a like plight himself. 



The Eskimo is more open in his manner and moods than the 

 Indian and reflects the passing thought in his attitude. As 

 Cartwright wrote: "What in their minds they think, their 

 faces show." They are very good-natured as a rule, but when 

 angry, let their passions rage like children. They have this 

 advantage over the Indian, however, that they do not harbour 

 a grudge overnight, unless it is a serious one affecting their 

 good name, of which they are very sensitive, or a case of blood- 

 revenge. They have an innate sense of humour, which turns the 

 most trifling circumstance into a joke, and a person with a 

 cheerful disposition will get along much better with them than 

 one who is inclined to be sober. They say that they dislike a 

 "sour- face." They are impatient of small delays, preferring 

 the present good to future welfare, as is seen in their custom of 

 feasting while there is plenty and starving when there is none. 

 However, they show great fortitude in bearing unusual hard- 

 ships, and it is remarkable how cheerful their outlook is on a 

 life which at best is a cold and hard one. 



DEATH. 



The Eskimo have little fear of death itself, which the hunter 

 braves many times a day on the shifting ice, nor do they express 

 any particular emotion in putting an animal to death, or killing 

 a man, for that matter. But they do have a superstitious 

 fear of a corpse, owing to the malignant influence which it is 

 supposed to exert, and are very much afraid of ghosts. They 

 will never pass by one of their burying places at night. Their 

 terror of the unknown is a very fruitful soil for the shaman 



