THE WOfcLD'K WOtfDtifeft. 



naked, the women invariably stripped to the waist, and when 

 lying down to sleep even the garments covering the lower extrem- 

 ities are removed. . 



Matches, of course, are unknown among the Esquimaux, nor 

 do they resort to friction to produce fire, as they have a much 

 more admirable and expeditious means. They use two stones, 

 one an oxide of iron, in appearance, and the other a milky-look- 

 ing quartz ; these are struck together in flint-and-steal fashion, 

 over a tinder composed of the silky down of the villow-catkins, 

 which is held on a lump of dried moss. Under favorable condi- 

 tions, matches are but a small improvement over this native way 

 of producing fire. 



The Esquimaux subsist on an exclusively meat diet, and all eat 

 like gourmands. Cleanliness is something which they do not 

 appreciate, but in this they are excused by the rigor of their cli- 

 mate, which makes water both scarce and disagreeable. Usually 

 they prefer uncooked flesh, though sometimes they boil their 

 meat, but only for the soup it yields. Their mode of eat- 

 ing from a fresh carcass is ingeniously curious. They cut the 

 meat in long strips, one end of which is introduced into the 

 mouth and swallowed as far as the powers of deglutition will 

 allow, then cutting off the portion left protruding from the mouth, 

 they repeat the process of swallowing. It is not wholly unlike 

 feeding a hungry dog with a fat piece of bacon tied to a string. 



CHAPTER XXXV. 



SEAL HUNTING. 



THERE are several species of seals living in the Arctic waters, 

 ranging in size from three or four feet in length, and weighing 

 fifty pounds, to what is known as the large-bearded seal, which 

 often measures twelve feet in length and weighs nearly one thou- 

 sand pounds. In the capture of these animals the Esquimaux are 

 wonderfully skilled, for they make a study of their habits until 



