34 CRUISE OF STEAiMER COR WIN IN THE ARCTIC OCEAN. 



but act as a valuable antiscorbutic. These berries, and a kind of kel|), which I have seen Eskimo 

 eating at Tapkan, Siberia, seem to be the only vegetable food tliey have. The large quantities 

 of eggs easily procurable, but iu most cases doubtful, also constitute a standard article of diet 

 among these people, who have no scruples about eating them partly hatched. They seemed never 

 to comprehend our fastidiousness in the matter and why our tastes ditt'ered so much from theirs 

 in this respect. The^' will break an egg containing an embryonic duck or goose, extract the bird 

 by one leg and devour it with all the relish of an epicure. Gull's eggs, however, are in disrepute 

 among them, for the women — who, by the way, have the same frailties and weakness as their more 

 civilized sisters — believe that eating gulls' eggs causes loss of beauty and brings on early decrepi- 

 tude. The men, on the other hand, are fond of seal eyes, a tid-bit which the women believe 

 increases their amorousness, and feed to their lords after the manner of "Open your mouth and 

 shut your eyes." 



Game is as a rule very tame, and during the moulting season, when the geese are unable to 

 fly, it is quite possible to kill them with a stick. At one place, Cape Thompson, Eskimo were seen 

 catching birds from a high cliif with a kind of scoop net, and I saw birds at Herald Island refuse 

 to move when pelted with stones, so unaccustomed were they to the presence of man. In addi- 

 tion to being very tame, game is plentiful, and not an uncommon sight, off the Siberian coast, were 

 flocks of eider ducks darkening the air and occupying several hours in passing overhead. It was 

 novel sport to see the natives throw a projectile known as an *' apluketat" into one of these 

 flocks with astonishing range and accuracy, bringing down the game with the effectiveness of a 

 shotgun. 



Game keeps so well in the Arctic that an instance is known of its being perfectly sweet and 

 sound on an English ship after two years' keeping, and whalemen kill a number of pigs, which 

 they hang in the rigging and keep for use during the cruise. It is also noticeable that leather 

 articles do not mildew as they generally do at sea, some shoes kept in a locker on board the 

 Corwiu having retained their polish during the entire cruise. 



The food of the Eskimo satisfies their instinctive craving for a hydrocarbon, but they do not 

 allow themselves to be much disturbed or distracted in its preparation, as most of it is eaten raw. 

 They occasionally boil their food, however, and some of them have learned the use of flour and 

 molasses, of which they are very fond. 



Their aversion to salt is a very marked peculiarity, and they will not eat either corned beef or 

 pork on this account. It may be that physiological reasons exist for this dislike. 



SOCIAL AND D03IESTIC RELATIONS. 



Omitting other ethnographic facts relative to the Eskimo, which might be treated in a system- 

 atic way except for their triteness, we i)ass from the means of the renewal of the animal economy 

 to its reproduution. Courtship and marriage, which, it is said, are conducted in the most unsenti- 

 mental manner possible, are for that reason not to be discussed; and for obvious reasons many of 

 the prenatal conditions cannot here be dwelt u[)on. Having never witnessed the act of parturition 

 in an Eskimo my knowledge of the subject is merely second-hand, and consequently not worth 

 detailing. It api)ears, though, that parturition is a function easily performed among them, and 

 that it is unattended by the postpartem accidents common to civilization. As a rule the women 

 are unprolitic,it being uncommon to (ind a family numbering over three ciiildren,and the mortality 

 among the new born is excessive,',owiug to the ignorance and neglect of the ordinary rules of hygiene. 

 They seem, however, to be kind to their children, who in respect to crying do not show the same 

 peevishness as seen iu our nurseries ; indeed, the social and demonstrative good nature of the race 

 seems to crop out even iu babyhood, as 1 have often witnessed under such (urcumstances as a baby 

 enveloped in furs in a skin canoe which lay along side the ship during a snow storm ; its tiny 

 hands protruding held a i)iece of blubber, which it sucked with apparent relish, the unique picture 

 of happy contentment. It was quick to feel itself an object of attraction, and its chubby face 

 returned any number of smiles of recognition. 



The manner of carrying the infant is contrary to that of civilized custom. It is borne on the 

 back under the clothes of the mother, which form a poucii, and from which its tiny head is gen- 

 erally visible over one or the other shoulder, but on being observed by strangers it shrinks like a 



