8o AN ESKIMO VILLAGE 



the net. Sometimes you may find a man tending 

 another's net without payment, doing it just as an 

 act of brotherly kindness. There was a crippled man 

 in the village who made quite a good living at the 

 trout-fishing. He, poor fellow, was bedridden, but 

 his friends looked after the nets for him and set the 

 fish apart as his catch. It is one of the ways in 

 which the Eskimo shows the charitable spirit that 

 is in him. 



And now, in order to make the real acquaintance 

 of old Kornelius, you must come into his house. 

 It is only a little hut, a real Eskimo iglo, built of 

 wood and turf, and you must stoop very low in order 

 to get through the porch and doorway. There are 

 often a couple of dogs sunning themselves outside, 

 or sheltering from the wind under the shadow of the 

 porch ; they are the relics of Kornelius 's team, and 

 are useful for lending to neighbours. Indeed, this 

 is the way in which the old man keeps up a supply 

 of firewood for his stove, for the borrower is always 

 willing to pay for the use of the dogs by giving a 

 couple of logs from the load that they have helped 

 to haul from the woods. 



This explains the dogs in the porchway. 



Once inside the hut your eyes must get used to 

 the gloom, for the window over the door is not of 

 glass, but of a membrane made by stitching seal's 

 bowel together in strips. Such a window has its 

 uses : it allows a certain amount of fresh air to pass 

 in as it flaps to and fro in the wind ; it also lets a 

 little light into the hut, though you cannot see 

 through it, and the sunshine only filters in very 



