THE ESKIMO BABY 



helpless without a hood ; to carry the child in her 

 arms, or to try to wheel it in a "pram" or drag it 

 on a sledge would never satisfy it ; the hood of the 

 woman's dicky has been the Eskimo cradle longer 

 than memory can tell, and the gentle shrugging of 

 the shoulders, or the to-and-fro swaying of the body 

 which swings the hood in such a soothing fashion, are 

 things which come naturally to every Eskimo girl. 



I think that there is no more useful member of an 

 Eskimo household than a growing daughter; she 

 minds the baby while the mother attends to the seal- 

 skins ; she chews the leather and helps at the stitch- 

 ing of the boots ; she fetches water from the brook 

 and scrubs the floor and in a busy time a good 

 many Eskimo floors are scrubbed to clear away the 

 traces of seals every day ; she makes herself useful i 

 about the house in countless little ways, and evenj 

 goes out fishing if there is nothing else to do ; and 

 yet, when they first saw her, I warrant her parents I 

 said they wished she had been a boy ! A boy is 

 different ; he is not of much use until he is old 

 enough to go to the hunt; he drives off with the 

 sledge and dogs and fetches firewood, or helps at the 

 chopping, maybe, but most boys seem to spend the j 

 greater part of their time amusing themselves. AhJ 

 but the boy is going to be a hunter, and there is a 

 glory about that : nothing else is half so great, to 

 Eskimo eyes, as a really clever hunter; and the; 

 father who sees his boy running wild, up to all sorts 

 of daring pranks, and growing headstrong and self- 

 willed, takes but little notice: the boy is growing 

 up healthy and strong some day he will be i 

 hunter. 



How the mothers spoil their children ! Anc 



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