LIFE AND HISTORY OF THE ESKIMOS 



tions of the many queer ideas of the strange white men, shows 

 plainly their absolute contempt of death, and what an abund- 

 ance of courage they possess. 



They are not of the type which, like dogs, put their tails 

 between their legs and run off when they meet dangers and the 

 eternal hopelessness of pressure-ice. 



The Eskimos are a roaming people, always longing for a 

 change and a surprise — a people which likes moving about in 

 search of fresh hunting-grounds, fresh possibilities, and " hidden 

 things." 



They are born with the explorer's inclinations and thirst for 

 knowledge ; and they possess all those qualities which go to 

 make an explorer in those latitudes. 



When an Eskimo family moves on to new ground, in a sur- 

 prisingly short time it knows the surroundings for miles around 

 — paths, short-cuts, plains, mountains, all the natural features 

 which a hunter must know so that he may track down 

 his prey. They study the inland-ice and find places of easy 

 ascent and sledge routes to other coasts and new chances. 

 Soon the sea has no secrets regarding the movements and 

 favourite haunts of its animals. 



On the whole, the hunter likes to leave the old ways for the 

 stimulating excitement which accompanies seeking and hunting 

 under strange conditions. And he also knows how to value 

 this quality and this inclination in others. 



I shall never forget the happy sensation created among the 

 hunters of the tribe when, in the spring of 1907, I drove up to 

 them with Osarqaq and declared that I was on my way to 

 Ellesmere Land. I had never seen a musk-ox, and now I had 

 a longing to taste musk-ox meat. You see, according to their 

 opinion there must always be a sensible reality behind one's 

 actions. Oh, how well they understood me ! They knew that 

 it was "two suns " since I left my country and my family, and 

 that I was still on the road with the same goal constantly in 

 view. They respected that. I felt happy and touched when 

 an old necromancer, Masaitsiaq, greeted me with a call to the 

 effect that it was good that in my own country I had not for- 



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