SEALSKIN MITTENS. — HATS. 167 



topped boots. Often American and English boots and shoes, or 

 rubbers, are used, but these seldom in winter except on Sundays 

 or extraordinary occasions. In the house sealskin shoes, much 

 like a moccasin, are worn by the members of the family large and 

 small, almost without exception, while in warm weather the chil- 

 dren go barefooted. 



The next most important articles of wear that the women make 

 are sealskin mittens. The sealskin mittens of the Esquimaux, 

 and those which are worn all along the coast, are articles probably 

 peculiar to this, as to other Arctic regions. The sealskin is the 

 same as that used for most articles of wear here, and must be remem- 

 bered as the harbor, not the Russian, Northwest, Alaskan hair seal. 

 The skin is dressed as usual, and the mittens made with the fur 

 outward. They are odd looking articles outside, while the inside 

 is at first quite tough and rough with the natural wrinkles of the 

 skin, caused by heat or dryness. These, like the boots, are worth 

 more if made of well rather than imperfectly cured skins. The 

 whole length of the mitten is from twelve to fourteen inches. The 

 top is quite wide w^hile the rest of the mit narrows to the hand which 

 is made of a short, wide, rounded piece of skin sewed to the main 

 part of the mitten. It is a simple affair, and yet, like the boots, 

 when worn with ever so thin an extra covering inside, it is nearly 

 impervious to the cold. As a further protection there is a border 

 at the top consisting of a strip of muskrat, otter, or beaver skin, 

 with the fur outward, and from one to two inches wide. Though 

 somewhat clumsy, it is a rather pretty affair to look at, especially if 

 the pattern of the sealskin, as it often does, varies from silky ash to 

 almost black with roundish spots of ash black centred ; sometimes 

 a skin is nearly pure black (the hairs, silky at the tips only, reflect- 

 ing a delicate velvet) . The color of the skin and the curing seem 

 to sell the mits better than anything else, and a prettily spotted pair 

 is almost always chosen in preference to one plainly colored. 



We have still to describe two articles of wear before our hunting 

 apparel is completed. First, the sealskin hat or cap : this is made 

 like an ordinary cap with a rather pointed crown (made of cornered 



