462 



THE POLAR WORLD. 



which could be ascertained only by exploring with their spears. They broke ' 

 throuo-h the roof, and, looking down, saw the woman frozen as sohd as a mar- 

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

 had perished from cold very soon after being abandoned. There were supplies 

 of whale-skin for food, and blubber to keep up the fire, but she was too feeble 

 to rise from the bed and- replenish the lamp. 



The Innuits of the present day are a purely nomadic race, roamijig from 

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

 pear 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 (igloos) for winter, and tents {tupics) for suaimer. But 



INNUIT SUMMER VILLAGE. 



there are indications in the form 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 into contact with the whites. How this comes to pass is a mystery. 

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

 the annuals 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 have been eaten up by nameless diseases, con- 

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

 drunkenness or licentiousness among the Innuits. Consumption is the great 



