ON THE ESQUIMAUX 191 



soon right way up again. Indeed, in heavy seas 

 they would purposely upset, and so get the force 

 of the broken water on the bottom or side of their 

 boat, righting themselves immediately the danger 

 had passed. In sport one kayak would "leap-frog" 

 over another; or turning over on one side the 

 "kayak man" would right himself on the other in 

 their merry dexterity. Alas ! that so marvellous 

 an adaptation to the necessities of their lives should 

 ever be relegated to a forgotten past. Broken 

 water does them no more harm than it would to a 

 swimming seagull, so exquisite is their buoyancy. 



Generosity and vanity form a queer combination 

 in many of them. On one occasion, a family, which 

 had long been struggling for the mere necessaries 

 of daily life, were fortunate enough to catch in their 

 large stone trap a black fox. With tears of joy 

 the father took the skin to the store. God had 

 heard his prayers. He was credited with 9 worth 

 of goods. When he got home, however, the well- 

 filled cupboard so filled his heart with vanity that 

 he issued an invitation to all his acquaintances "to 

 come and eat and stay with him." In two days 

 the supplies ran out, and already again the wolf of 

 hunger besieged his doors. 



In another case a Newfoundland planter had left 

 an Eskimo in charge of his stores during the winter, 

 giving him for himself a more than generous winter's 

 diet. Soon his friends, with their chronic state of 

 hunger, came to pay him a visit. Without a thought 



