AND KAYAK 23 



we understand things : she simply dropped 

 her prize into the depths of the great hood of 

 her smock, and wandered along the deck to 

 see more sights. Presently I saw her with a 

 crowd of others peering down the open sky- 

 light of the engine-room, wide-eyed with 

 wonder at the strange and shining things she 

 saw down there, and evidently enjoying the 

 warm and steamy draught that came blowing 

 upwards. 



When we went ashore there was an Eskimo 

 waiting to hand us into the boat. He stood at 

 the bottom of the steps ; and as I trod care- 

 fully down the wooden gangway all crusted 

 with hard black ice and all a-move with the 

 swaying of the ship, I looked down at him. 

 Here was a real Eskimo, just like the pictures 

 that I had in my mind ; a black-haired, 

 shaggy-headed little man, with broad shoulders 

 and strong arms, a heavy, muscular little 

 figure not more than five feet tall, and when 

 he looked up at me it was a face from the 

 picture-books that looked into mine, a square 

 smooth face with an oily-looking yellow skin 

 and ruddy patches on the cheeks. His lumpy 

 cheek-bones seemed well padded with fat ; his 

 nose was a small flat dab ; and he had a pair of 

 restless little brown eyes that twinkled out of 

 narrow slits. I handed my wife down the 



