152 CKUISE OF THE NEPTUNE 



early winter months, when many of them travel southward 

 along the coast. 



The months of January and February are passed by the 

 Eskimos on the journey to the trading post, where a short stay 

 of a few days is made to dry the fox-skins caught during the 

 winter, and to trade these along with deer and other skins in 

 the shop. There is no cash used in these transactions ; the skins 

 are handed over to the trader, who values them from a standard 

 of a white fox skin. When the amount has been made up, he 

 hands to the native a number of tokens representing the value 

 of his hunt in fox-skins. The usual tariff is about as follows : 



White fox = 1 skin. Mink = 1 skin. 



Blue fox = 2 skins. Marten = 2 skins. 



Cross fox = 5 to 15 skins. White bear = 4 to 10 skins. 



Silver fox = 15 to 40 skins. Deerskin = j Skin. 



Otter = 4 to 8 skins. 



The Eskimo trades back, over the counter, the tokens received 

 for his hunt. The first purchase is a supply of tobacco : next 

 comes ammunition, and then follow tools, cheap clothing, 

 needles, tin kettles, knives, files, &c., until his stock of tokens 

 is used up. The immediate profit on the goods supplied is very 

 great, but when the cost of transport and the maintenance of 

 the post are taken into account the profit, which appears enor- 

 mous at first, is found to be not excessive, considering the 

 precarious nature of the fur trade, with its fluctuating market 

 and the chances against good hunts. 



The trading completed, the natives collect in large bands on 

 the ice, usually in the vicinity of some long crack or other place 

 where seals are abundant, and spend the next month going from 

 encampment to encampment visiting friends and exchanging 

 the news. With the first signs of mild weather a start is made 

 northward. Life now is very pleasant; the days are long and 

 becoming mild; seals are killed in large numbers on the ice, 

 as they lie basking and sleeping in the warm sun. A good deal 



