AND KAYAK 35 



or a part of it, and a most interesting sight 

 they made. Bob and his wife evidently 

 practised economy at home by handing on each 

 child's clothes, as soon as it grew too big for 

 them, to the next on the list. The trousers that 

 adorned the bigger boy were obviously Bob's, 

 patched and puckered to the proper size ; one 

 little girl had a woman's skirt on, all the way 

 up, which gave her the appearance of having 

 stepped out of a picture-book ; and every one 

 of the children seemed to be wearing some- 

 body else's boots. And quite right, too, I 

 thought. These children are scrambling over 

 the rocks all day long, romping with the dogs, 

 and getting their clothes torn and muddied and 

 soaked ; so I rather admired the wisdom of 

 their mother in dressing them up in non- 

 descript garments for their play. 



The children stood in a row, hand in hand, 

 and stared at me as I came along the path : 

 they only grunted when I said " Aksunai " to 

 them, though a grunt is quite polite as an 

 Eskimo way of answering ; so I went past 

 them and peeped into the tent. The half 

 furthest from the door was evidently the sleep- 

 ing-place, for it was filled by a sort of plat- 

 form built of earth and moss, and spread with 

 skins. 



The mother was seated by the edge of the 



