BIRTHDAYS 



They are great times, these birthdays ; but there 

 is nothing riotous about them. The dances and 

 orgies of heathen days are forgotten, and instead you 

 may hear the sound of singing. Many a time have 

 I passed along the village in the dark of the evening 

 and have heard the charming sound from some little 

 hut ; the old familiar hymn tunes sound very sweet 

 in the loneliness of Labrador. First one voice, then 

 another, rises above the balanced harmony ; and I 

 have stood listening, with a queer lump in my throat, 

 as verse followed verse and hymn followed hymn ; 

 and I have known that this was the family gathering 

 that brings the Eskimo birthday to a close. 



There is much that is pleasant in the memory of 

 life among these Eskimo hunters. In spite of their 

 thoughtlessness, their sometimes unreasonable de- 

 mands, their excitability, their proneness to quarrel, 

 in spite of their repulsive habits, and the occasional 

 glimpses that I got of their native distrust of people 

 from other lands, there is a warm spot in my heart 

 for the Eskimos. In my memory of them the good 

 qualities overbalance the bad. But in spite of the 

 fascination of life in Labrador, I do my utmost in 

 this book to write of the Eskimos exactly as I found = 

 them, and I believe my picture of them to be a plain , 

 and unvarnished one. 



One of the most winning things about the 

 Eskimos is their very simplicity; so simple and 

 direct they are that at times they can be too con-' 

 fiding. They speak slowly, and seem to weigh their 

 words. On the other hand, they have the gift of 

 graphic and fluent speech, and can describe their 

 doings with thrilling gestures and telling emphasis 



when they choose. But they must get warmed to 



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