THE ESKIMOS' TEETH, AND OTHER NOTES. 187 



The Eskimos are very fond of eggs, and will sometimes 

 lay in a supply for the long Arctic night. This is done by 

 stripping the secretions out of the gut of a seal and refilling 

 with the eggs, which they break and pour in, tying up the end 

 of the gut. It resembles a gigantic frankfurter, and freezes 

 solid when the cold weather sets in. The natives break off 

 bits with their teeth, swallowing them uncooked with a relish. 

 While camping out on the moss-covered rocky banks of a 

 river which runs into one of the fiords, I caught with one lit- 

 tle artificial fly two hundred and twenty salmon-trout, vary- 

 ing in length from six to eighteen inches, landing one hun- 

 dred and sixty-two in one day from a pool formed in the bend 

 of the river, beyond which the water ran very swiftiy. Al- 

 lowing the fly to disappear in several feet of water, I found 

 the fish to be quite game, as often a small one would make 

 you think a ten-pounder had taken hold. All hands ate the 

 fish, which were fried in a skillet over an oil-stove, with 

 great relish, except Dr. Cramer, who did not care for fish, and 

 as we were short of bread and limited to one piece, I gladly 

 forfeited my portion in favor of the Doctor, and filled in 

 on fish. 



While returning to Sukkertoppen in an old, leaky boat, 

 loaded with the tents, cooking utensils, and camp traps, 

 together with three Eskimos to row while I handled the tiller, 

 I discovered that a few crackers, my supply of provender, had 

 become soaked in dirty bilge- water. After sitting in a cramped 

 position for sixteen hours, cold, stiff, and damp, from the 

 spray of the waves, which were tossing our boat around in a 

 lively manner, I was getting pretty hungry, but could not 

 make up my mind to tackle the dirty crackers. Presently I 

 noticed one of the Eskimos eating raw salmon that had been 

 cleaned and partially dried on the rocks before leaving camp. 

 It was of a rich color, and looked very tempting. I asked 

 for a piece. He pulled out a salmon, or rather half of one. 



