CHARLES FRANCIS HALL AND THE INNUITS. 45!) 



dozen of the best woollen blankets and been almost frozen, while a single slender 

 skin kept him abundantly warm. During the summer the deer furnishes a 

 great part of the food of the people. The grass and mosses upon which the 

 deer live are very abundant. Nowhere, except on the prairies of the West, had 

 Hall ever seen such luxuriant pasturage, and the deer in August were so plenti- 

 ful that they were killed merely for the sake of their hides and tallow, which is 

 a great luxury, fully equal, in Hall's opinion, to the finest butter. If the Innuits 

 would only store up their provisions in the season of plenty, they need never 

 suffer from famine ; but they never do this, and the consequence is that from 

 November till May they are almost always on the verge of starvation, while 

 during the rest of the year they revel in plenty. , 



As a pendant to Mr. Hall's account of a seal-feast, we give his description of 

 a reindeer-feast. The date is December, the season of scarcity. " Four months 

 before, they had more deer-meat than they could eat and the quantity that an 

 Innuit and his dog can consume is something almost incredible. But one day a 

 man came in from a hunting excursion bearing with him a portion of the car- 

 casses of two deer, frozen as hard as a rock. A general invitation for a feast 

 was of course given out ; and the entire population, about thirty in all, rushed 

 in. Sampson, the giver of the feast, acted as master of ceremonies. He first 

 made the ladies on the bed give away, so as to clear a space whereon he might 

 do the carving. Then he placed a huge seal-skin on this spot, by way of table- 

 cloth, upon which the frozen carcass was laid. This he began to carve with a 

 hatchet. 'Slabs of its side were chopped and peeled off ; chips of ice flew here 

 and there into the faces of the guests at each stroke of the axe. As fast as the 

 fragments of venison rolled off, other men took the pieces, and by means of a 

 saw and seal-knives Deduced them to a size adapted for handling. Then Samp- 

 son distributed these bits, one to each, till every mill had its grist to grind. 

 Thus for half an hour Sampson carved ; then his hatchet-handle broke off close 

 up to the head. Another axe was sent for, and meanwhile, with the half of a 

 saw, the two saddles were divided into the proper number of pieces, ready for 

 distribution. The carcass was then "once more attacked, and the shell was 

 broken, split, and sawed to pieces. In it was the < kernel,' to which all looked 

 with anxious eyes ; this was at last divided into as many pieces as there were 

 pieces of saddle, and then one of each was given to every guest. I received 

 my share with gratitude, and, with a piece in each hand, began eating. I bit 

 off a mouthful of the saddle-piece ; it was good. I took a morsel of the other ; 

 it was delightful : its flavor was a kind of sorrel acid ; it had an ambrosial taste ; 

 it fairly melted in my mouth. When nearly through, I had the curiosity to 

 crowd my way to a light to see what this delicious frozen food was, for whei'e I 

 sat I was shaded by large forms between me and the firelight. I looked at it, 

 rolled it over, and looked again. Behold, it was the contents of a reindeer's 

 paunch ! On this discovery I stopped feasting for that night." 



Mr. Hall passes judgment upon various other articles of Innuit food. Seal's 

 blood, smoking hot, is excellent. The skin of the whale, three-quarters of an 

 inch thick, looking like India-rubber, even when raw, is good eating ; but when 

 boiled and soused in vinegar, is most excellent. Thue " gum '' of the whale, that 



