134 ACROSS THE SUB-ARCTICS OF CANADA. 



often be seen running about gnawing pieces of walrus 

 hide as if they were apples. Sometimes, however, they 

 have no walrus hide or meat of any kind to gnaw, for 

 occasionally in the spring season the condition of the 

 snow and ice is such as to render hunting impossible, 

 and though they store up meat in the fall for winter 



use, it is often exhausted 

 before spring. 



When this state of things 

 occurs the condition of 

 the Eskimos is deplorable 

 in the extreme. They are 

 forced to kill and eat 

 their wretched dogs, which 

 are even more nearly 

 starved than themselves, 

 and next they resort to 

 their skin clothing and 

 moccasins, which they 

 soak in water until they 

 become soft, though per- 

 haps not altogether pala- 

 table. 



Next to starvation, per- 

 haps the most severe 



affliction the Eskimo has to endure is that of snow 

 blindness. This trouble is very prevalent in the spring 

 season, and is caused by the exposure to the strong 

 glare of the sun upon the glistening fields of snow and 

 ice. Snow blindness is thus in reality acute inflamma- 

 iton of the eyes, and the pain caused by it is excrucia- 

 ting, being like what one would expect to suffer if his 



HALF-BREED HUNTER WITH 

 WOODEN SNOW-GOGGLES. 



