84 THE LAST CRUISE OF THE MIRAXDA. 



Eskimo — yet enjoys a good status, and is treated with consid- 

 eration. The division of hibor in a household is distinct. 

 The man is the hunter and supporter of the family ; his work 

 is performed almost exclusively upon the sea ; on land he 

 loafs and invites his soul. The women take care of the 

 booty, skin the seals, and cut them according to prescribed 

 rules. They prepare and cook the food, dress the skins, 

 make clothes, cover the boats ; they build and manage the 

 houses, and even the large boats, or oomiaks. The houses are 

 built of stone and turf, and generally contain but one room, 

 entrance to which is effected through a long, nan-ow passage. 

 In the single large room the entire family, or more often an 

 aggregation of families, eat and sleep. There are generally 

 several benches in this room, and upon these the inhabitants 

 huddle together and sleep. Some of the houses have fireplaces, 

 but mostly the room is heated by lamps burning blubber-oil. 

 The cooking is done in a special firej)lace outside, near the 

 entry ; the fuel used is peat and a kind of guano provided 

 by the gulls. The culinary method is very simple. Meat 

 and fish are eaten both raw and cooked, and these edibles are 

 highly prized when in a state of decomposition, which is sup- 

 posed to give a spice to them. Seal and whale blubber are 

 eaten raw, and because the Eskimos feel the want of vegetable 

 food they are very fond of the contents of the paunch of the 

 reindeer — a mixture of moss and such spare vegetation as 

 the deer can find. A j)reserve made of this compound, 

 mixed with crowberries and blubber, is another delicate mor- 

 sel. " Matak,^' or the skin of whale or dolphin, taken off the 

 animal with the upper layer of fat and eaten raw, is another 

 Eskimo hon houche. 



The social system of the West Greenland Eskimos is a 

 mixture of their own traditions and of modern European 

 ways. There is a modified communism among them. They 

 recognize private property in the kayak and its appurtenances. 



