THE LIVING RACES OF MANKIND 



Photo by M. Pierre Petit} 



AN ESKIMO YOUTH. 



[Paris. 



one of these canoes will carry a load of about 200 Ibs- 

 In Greenland the kayak may have its framework 

 constructed of whalebone; but in Labrador the 

 material is spruce. In consequence of this difference 

 the Labrador vessel is of broader and clumsier build, 

 although at the same time more stable. The kayaker 

 propels his canoe with a double-bladed paddle, the 

 ends of which are tipped with bone. To withstand 

 the icy sea a special waterproof dress is necessary for 

 kayaking; this consisting of a .jacket made of gut 

 or skin, and furnished with mittens, so that only 

 the face of the wearer is exposed to the elements. 

 During still weather or in sheltered bays a half- 

 jacket alone is often worn; this sufficing to protect 

 the occupant as far as the arm-pits when a wave 

 dashes over his vessel. 



Although steel or iron has in recent years largely 

 tended to supplant the use of bone or chipped stone 

 for spear- and harpoon-heads, it is probable that in 

 most parts of Eskimoland the former were the 

 original materials. Beautiful specimens of such stone 

 and bone lance-heads, as well as those made of iron, 

 are to be seen in the ethnological galleries of the 

 British Museum; and it is with such weapons that 

 the kayaker kills his prey. Both in the case of 

 the harpoon and the lance the head is detachable 



by the first sideway pull, so as to remain fixed only to the line or cord with which it is 

 provided. In the case of the lance the other end of the cord is attached to the shaft, so as 

 to form a kind of hinge. But in the large harpoons the shaft becomes completely freed, so 

 that the head is attached only to the line, the other end of which terminates in a large 

 inflated bladder. This bladder marks the course of the whale or seal, and enables the kayaker 

 to follow and dispatch his prey by lance-thrusts. 



But the kayak is by no means the only vessel which the ingenuity of these adventurous 

 people has succeeded in devising, as there is also the much stouter and more capacious umiak, 

 or women's boat, largely employed in the movement of the tribes from one hunting or fishing 

 station to another. These, which are also covered with skin, are perfectly flat-bottomed, and 

 vary from 25 to 37 feet in length, with a beam of about 5 and a depth of 2 feet. In 

 Greenland the larger vessels will carry a load of about 3 tons, while the much more numerous 

 smaller kinds will take only about half that weight. Since the framework and thwarts alone 

 are of wood, even the larger umiaks can be transported overland without much difficulty by 

 a party of eight or ten men. The flexibility of these boats enables them to withstand the 

 shock of the waves remarkably well, although their owners are careful to avoid subjecting them 

 to such strains as much as possible. Although liable to be cut through at once by the 

 sharp edges of floating ice, the natives are such adepts in steering that they will take the 

 umiaks across arms of the sea in which scarcely any large spaces of open water are visible. 

 When in use, the skin on the bottom of the umiak becomes almost transparent, thus 

 permitting the motion of the water to be seen by the occupants. Although in the south the 

 skin covering requires an annual renewal, in the north of Greenland it will last for at least 

 a couple of years. 



Mention has already been made of harpoons and lances; it must be added that the heads 

 of ordinary-sized specimens of the latter, when made of the usual black stone, are about 

 3 inches in length, and have beautifully chipped edges. In using the harpoon, the kayaker 



