472 



ESQUIMAUXEXCISE. 



even replied to in mystical answers, after which the 

 sound died away, and she was supposed to disap- 

 pear, when Toolemak cautiously announced his re- 

 turn to the upper world. The magician was taken 

 on board one of the vessels, and, after being heated 

 with nine glasses of hot water (brandy), influenced 

 by the spirit, began to act over again; when it ap- 

 peared by various modes of applying the hand or 

 jacket to the mouth, he produced those sounds 

 which had passed off for the incantations of Aywill- 

 aiyoo. This deity is supposed to have a father, 

 who is a giant with one arm. The Esquimaux also 

 have a more familiar spirit, called Pamiooli, a kind 

 of Mercury among them frequently invoked ; they 

 likewise mention a large bear, which they say in- 

 habits the centre of the ice, and sometimes holds 

 converse with them. They, however, believe in a 

 future state, in which, as usual among savage na- 

 tions, they imagine the senses will be completely 

 amused. They believe that the soul passes through 

 different abodes, first into a state similar to purga- 

 tory j that the good spirits pass through them, and 

 find their state continually improving until they 

 reach a spot where the sun never sets, and where, 

 with plenty of water and a beautiful country by 

 the side of lakes which never freeze, the deer roam 

 in vast herds, and the seal and the walrus abound. 

 Such is with them the perfection of bliss. 



Captain Parry gives the following description of 

 the manner in which the Esquimaux dogs draw the 

 sledge: 



" When drawing a sledge, the dogs have a sim- 

 ple harness (annoo) of deer or seal-skin, growing 

 round the neck by one bight, and another for each 

 of the fore-legs, with a single thong leading over 

 the back, and attached to the sledge as a trace. 

 Though they appear at first sight to be huddled 

 together without regard to regularity, there is, in 

 fact, considerable attention paid to their arrange- 

 ment, particularly in the selection of a dog of pe- 

 culiar spirit and sagacity, who is allowed, by a 

 longer trace, to precede the rest as leader, and to 

 whom, in turning to the right or left, the driver 

 usually addresses himself. This choice is made 

 without regard to age or sex; and the rest of the 

 dogs take precedency according to their training or 

 sagacity, the least effective being put nearest the 

 sledge. The leader is usually from eighteen to 

 twenty feet from the fore part of the sledge, and 

 the hindmost dog about half that distance ; so that 

 when ten or twelve are running together, several 

 are nearly abreast of each other. The driver sits 

 quite low, on the fore part of the sledge, with his 

 feet overhanging the snow on one side, and having 

 in his hand a whip, of which the handle, made 

 either of wood, bone, or whalebone, is eighteen 

 inches, and the lash more than as many feet, in 

 length; the part of the thong next the handle is 

 platted a little way down to stiffen it, and give it 

 a spring, on which much of its use depends ; and 

 that which composes the lash is chewed by the 

 women, to make it flexible in frosty weather. The 

 men acquire from their youth considerable expert- 

 ness in the use of this whip, the lash of which is 

 left to trail along the ground by the side of the 

 sledge, and with which they can inflict a very 

 severe blow on any dog at pleasure. In direct- 

 ing the sledge, the whip acts no very essential 

 part, the driver for this purpose using certain 

 words, 'as the carters do with us, to make the 

 dogs turn more to the right or left. To these a 

 good leader attends with admirable precision, es- 



pecially if his own name be repeated at the same 

 time, looking behind over his shoulder with great 

 earnestness, as if listening to the directions of the 

 driver. On a beaten track, or even where a single 

 foot or sledge-mark is occasionally discernible, 

 there is not the slightest trouble in guiding the 

 dogs : for even in the darkest night, and in the 

 heaviest snow-drift, there is little or no danger of 

 their losing the road, the leader keeping his nose 

 near the ground, and directing the rest with won- 

 derful sagacity." 



EUPIONE ; (from iv, good, and TIUV, fat, or oil ;) 

 a highly volatile and inflammable liquid, extracted 

 from oil of tar by repeated rectifications, aided by 

 the action of concentrated sulphuric acid. It has 

 the lowest specific gravity of any known liquid, 

 viz., 0-65. When pure, it burns without smoke, 

 and with a very brilliant white flame. 



EVESHAM ; a borough-town in Worcestershire, 

 situated on the banks of the Avon, ninety-five 

 miles N.W. from London, and sixteen S.E. from 

 Worcester. Gardening forms the principal employ- 

 ment of the inhabitants, the vale of Evesham being 

 noted for its fertility. Stocking-weaving is also 

 carried on to some extent. Evesham is noted in 

 English history as the site of a battle fought on the 

 6th August, 1265, between the forces of Henry 

 III., commanded by prince Edward, and Simeon de 

 Montfort, earl of Lincoln, which issued in the de- 

 feat of the earl, and the release of the king and his 

 reinstatement on the throne. Population in 1831, 

 3991. 



EXCISE, (a.) In consequence of the injurious 

 interference of the excise regulations with the pro- 

 cesses of many of our manufactures, that branch of 

 national taxation has lately undergone considera- 

 ble investigation. On the 27th March, 1833, Sir 

 Henry Parnell, Bart., Henry Berens, and Henry 

 Lewis Wickham, Esqrs., were appointed commis- 

 sioners, to inquire into the establishment of the 

 department of excise, and into the management and 

 collection of the excise revenue throughout the 

 United Kingdom. On the 26th July, 1833, the 

 commissioners made their first report, and on the 

 12th July, 1836, their twentieth and last. Their 

 secretary, Mr T. C. Harrison, has since made a 

 Digest of these twenty reports. 



Many of their suggestions have been already 

 made the subjects of legislative enactments, viz. : 

 1. The abolition of the surveys and permits, as re- 

 gards tea, wine, and tobacco. 2. The modifica- 

 tion of the survey of brewers. 3. The repeal of 

 the duties on stone bottles and sweets. 4. The 

 limitation against shipping spirits from Scotland in 

 less quantities than eighty gallons reduced to 

 twenty gallons. 5. The reduction of duty on spi- 

 rits in Ireland, from 3s. 4d. to 2s. 4d. per gallon. 

 6. The repeal of the duty on starch, and the relief 

 of the manufacturers from excise regulations. 7. 

 The reduction of the duty on flint glass from 6d. 

 to 2d. per Ib. 8. The consolidation of the two 

 classes of paper into one, with one rate of duty. 

 9. The duty on first class paper reduced from 3d. 

 to l^d. per Ib., being the amount payable on se- 

 cond class paper. 10. Consolidation of the sepa- 

 rate classes of pasteboard, subject to one duty of 

 14s. per cwt. 11. Repeal of duty on stained paper. 



The following reductions have also been effected 

 in the establishment and expenditure of the excise 

 department, in consequence of the adoption of the 

 recommendations of the commissioners, either 

 wholly or in part, under these several heads, viz. : 



