THE LAST CRUISE OF THE MIRANDA. 



63 



kamics go but little above the ankle. There is also more 

 ornamentation about the dress of the women. Their breeches 

 are richly decorated in front with colored skin and white 

 strips of dog or reindeer skin, and their long kamics are 

 brightly colored, and the fronts of these are also decorated 

 with stripes. Indeed, the costumes are very picturesque, and 

 vastly more becoming to these people than the ugly garments 

 that civilization has 

 forced upon us. 



By the afternoon 

 the Miranda looked 

 like a floating mu- 

 seum of natural his- 

 tory. There were 

 already a consider- 

 able collection of 

 stuffed birds on 

 board, which had 

 been prepared by 

 the naturalists of 

 the expedition; 

 then a number of 

 stuffed seals had 

 been secured in St. 

 Johns, and a variety 

 of skins in Labra- 

 dor. This collection 

 was now augmented 

 by all kinds of Es- 

 kimo goods in the 

 way of costumes, 



boots, fur slippers, ornaments, implements of the chase, and 

 kayaks. Sixteen of these wonderful little boats now adorned 

 the decks of the Miranda. The kayak is an ingenious evolution 



PORTRAIT OF A LADY. 



