U8E8 OF THE BLUBBER OF SEALS. 129 



Seal's flesh forms their chief food, and they employ various 

 methods for preserving it for future use. The most com- 

 mon plan is to cut it into thin strips, and dry them over a 

 line in the interior of the huts. The seal-skins, which the 

 Esquimaux have a mode of rendering waterproof, form the 

 chief articles of dress ; when tanned, they make excellent 

 shoes. 



It may be mentioned here that the Romans believed a 

 seal's skin was a preservative against lightning, and they 

 made tents of it to shelter themselves during thunder- 

 storms. The Emperor Augustus is said by Suetonius never 

 to have traveled without one of these skins, having a great 

 dread of lightning. 



The blubber of the seal is most carefully preserved by 

 the Esquimaux, being useful in many ways to their domestic 

 comfort, and more precious to them by far than wine is to 

 others. The oil is the luxury of their meals, and is of a su- 

 perior quality to that of the common whale ; their bread is 

 nothing more than the dried muscular parts of seals or 

 birds. Whatever may be thought of the Esquimaux's par- 

 tiality for seal-flesh, it is well to remember that our English 

 ancestors considered it a delicacy. The seal and the por- 

 poise are mentioned in the bill of fare of a feast given at 

 the enthronization of George Neville, Archbishop of York, 

 in 1465. The meat is described as tender, but it certainly 

 has a look and smell which would not be agreeable to any 

 but very hungry persons. 



The Esquimaux are exceedingly expert in their mode of 

 capturing the seal. This is done either individually or in 

 company, or in winter on the ice. Their kayaks, or skin 

 boats are very curious : they are about eighteen feet in 

 length, pointed at the head, and shaped like a weaver's shut- 

 tle ; they are, at the same time, scarcely a foot and a half 

 wide over the middle, and not more than a foot deep. They 

 are built of a slender skeleton of wood, consisting of a keel 



