4G3 



THE POLAR WORLD. 



wliich coiiKl be ascertained only by exploring with their spears. They broke 

 lliiough the roof, and, looking down, saw the woman frozen as solid as a mar- 

 ble statue. She had been dead for days, and the indications showed that she 

 had ])crisl»ed from coM very soon after being abandoned. There; were snp[)lies 

 of whale-skin for food, ami l)lubber to keej) 14) the lire, but she was too feeble 

 to lise from the bed and replenisli the lamp. 



The Iiiiiuits of the i)resent day are a })urely nomadic race, roaming from 

 j)lace to place, following the seal, walrus, and deer. But their wanderings ap- 

 })ear to be confined to the region of the coast, never extending far into the in 

 terior. Their dwellings are therefore constructed for mere temporary occupa- 

 tion, being snow-huts (jr/loos) for winter, and tents {tti2)ks) for summer. But 



INNUIT SUMMER VILLAGE. 



there are indications in the forni of trenches and excavations which show that 

 they formerly led a more settled life, and constructed more permanent habita- 

 tions. Their numbers have been gradually diminishing ever since they have 

 come ijito contact with the whites. IIow this comes to pass is a mystery. 

 There is nothing to show that the climate has become more rigorous, or that 

 the animals which constitute their food have grown scarcer or less easy of cap- 

 ture. The Indians of America have been destroyed by the occupation of their 

 hunting-grounds, by whisky, and the small-pox, introduced by the whites. The 

 natives of the South Sea Islands hav« been eaten up by nameless diseases, con- 

 tracted from their licentious white visitors. There is scarcelv a trace of either 

 drunkenness or licentiousness among the Innuits. Consumption is the great 



