NELSON] INSENSIBILITY TO EXPOSURE 29 



built. Among them it is common to see men from 5 feet 10 inches to 

 6 feet tall and of proportionate build. I should judge the average 

 among them to be nearly or quite equal in height to the whites. 



Among the coast Eskimo, as a rule, the legs are short and poorly 

 developed, while the body is long, with disproportionately developed 

 dorsal and lumbar muscles, due to so much of their life being passed 

 in the kaiak. 



The Eskimo of the Big lake district, south of the Yukon, and from 

 the Kaviak peninsula, as well as the Malemut about the head of Kot- 

 zebue sound, are, on the contrary, very finely proportioned and athletic 

 men, who can not be equaled among the Indians of tlie Yukon region. 

 This fine i)hysical development is attributable to the fact that these 

 people are so located that their hunting is largely on open tundra or in 

 the mountains, thus producing a more symmetric development than is 

 possible among those whose lives are passed mainly in the kaiak. 



There were a number of halfblood children among the Eskimo, 

 resulting from the intercourse with people from vessels and others, 

 who generally show their Caucasian blood by large, finely shaped, and 

 often remarkably beautiful brown eyes. Tlie number of these mixed 

 bloods was not very great. 



^_As a race the Eskimo are very hardy and insensible to cold. While 

 the Corn-in was at anchor in HQtham inlet during the fall of 1881, 1 

 found a Malemut woman with two little girls, one about two years and 

 the other five years of age, lying fast asleep on the deck of the vessel 

 clothed only in their ordinary garments. A very raw wind was blow- 

 ing at the time, and it was difficult for us to keep warm even while 

 moving about in heavy overcoats. 



While I was at the head of Norton sound during February, when 

 the temperature stood at mimis 40° Fahrenheit, a boy 10 years of age, 

 with a sled and three dogs, was sent back several miles along the 

 previous day's trail to recover a pair of lost snowshoes. He started 

 off" aloue and returned a few hours later with the snowshoes, his cheeks 

 glowing red from the cold, but without other indication of the eff'ect 

 of the temperature. 



The men lead a hard and perilous life in the districts bordering the 

 sea, where much of the hunting is done in kaiaks. In spiring they go 

 long distances offshore, and are sometimes cast adrift on the moving 

 ice, requiring the greatest effort to return to the land. In a number 

 of instances that came to my notice men w'ere forced to spend one or 

 two days fighting their way back to shore in their kaiaks, after having 

 been driven seaward by a strong wind. 



In addition, the constant wetting and exposure throughout the entire 

 year helps gradually to undermine the strength of the natives; as a 

 result,. con sumption and rheumatic complaints are common, and but 

 few live to an advanced age. Families rarely have more than two or 

 three children, and it is not uncommon for them to have none. 



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