THE WHITE WORLD 



were 45 men, 52 women, 2J boys, and 14 girls. From the 

 measurements and the weights of the adult Eskimo of the 

 two villages, it appears that the traditional estimates of 

 Eskimo stature and avoirdupois will need revision. The 

 tallest man was 5 feet 8}£ inches; the shortest, 4 feet 11 

 inches. The tallest woman was 5 feet 3 inches; the short- 

 est, 4 feet yi inch. The average height of the men was 

 5 feet 3 inches; of the women, 4 feet 11 inches; of both sexes, 

 5 feet 2 inches. The heaviest man weighed 204 pounds; 

 the lightest, 126 pounds. The heaviest woman weighed 

 172 pounds; the lightest, 100 pounds. The average weight 

 of the men was 153 pounds; of the women, 135 pounds; of 

 both sexes, 146 pounds. Of the men there were few under 

 5 feet 4 inches, the army regulation height, and very few 

 under 140 pounds. The majority of the women were over 

 5 feet in height and weighed 130 pounds or more. 



These Eskimo differ also from the traditional Eskimo in 

 other respects. The lines of Bancroft in his " Native Races 

 of the Pacific States " representing the " dozing " Eskimo 

 " rubbing his eyes " and " crawling forth " when the long 

 arctic night is ended, have no application whatever to the 

 Eskimo of northern Alaska. It frequently happens that 

 there is no other time during the year in which these people 

 are so actively engaged in the struggle for existence as 

 during the arctic night. This is their principal " sealing 

 season," and the hardy Eskimo, instead of being found 

 asleep in his iglu, may be seen miles out upon the ocean 

 ice looking for " breathing holes," " ice cracks," and 

 " leads " or " lanes " of open water, where he may shoot 

 or spear the seal as they come up to the surface to breathe, 

 or may capture them in nets. If the sealing be good, it 

 makes no difference to the Eskimo whether the tempera- 

 ture is at zero or 50 degrees below, whether the wind is 

 merely a gentle breeze or is blowing a gale, so long as it is 

 an " on-shore " wind, so that there be no danger from the 

 breaking away of the ice on which he is staying; he stands 

 by his " sealery " and fishes his nets. The flesh of the 

 seal constitutes three-fourths of his food supply and the 

 blubber furnishes the principal means of illuminating his 

 iglus and of bartering for furs with the people of the 

 interior. Healthy, strong, and sinewy, therefore, as he is, 



114 



