462 



THE POLAR WORLD. 



which could be ascertained only by exploring with their spears. They broke 

 through the roof, and, looking down, saw the woman frozen as solid as a mar- 

 ble statue. She had been dead for days, and the indications showed that she 

 had perished from cold very soon after being abandoned. There were supplies 

 of whale-skin for food, and blubber to keep up the fire, but she was too feeble 

 to rise from the bed and replenish, the lamp. 



The Innuits of the present day are a purely nomadic race, roaming from 

 place to place, following the seal, walrus, and deer. But their wanderings ap- 

 pear to be confined to the region of the coast, never extending far into the in- 

 terior. Their dwellings are therefore constructed for mere temporary occupa- 

 tion, being snow-huts (igloos) for winter, and tents (topics) for summer. But 



INNUIT SUMMER VILLAGE. 



there are indications in the form of trenches and excavations which show that 

 they formerly led a more settled life, and constructed more permanent habita- 

 tions. Their numbers have been gradually diminishing ever since they have 

 come into contact with the whites. How this comes to pass is a mystery. 

 There is nothing to show that the climate has become more rigorous, or that 

 the animals which constitute their food have grown scarcer or less easy of cap- 

 ture. The Indians of America have been destroyed by the occupation of their 

 hunting-grounds, by whisky, and the small-pox, introduced by the whites. The 

 natives of the South Sea Islands have been eaten up by nameless diseases, con- 

 tracted from their licentious white visitors. There is scarcely a trace of either 

 drunkenness or licentiousness among the Innuits. Consumption is the great 



