JOSHUA THE IVORY-CARVER 



stalk majestically down the jetty, clad in all his 

 finery. I do not mean that he had donned his 

 sealskin boots and trousers, and the special white 

 " dicky " that he kept for church ; no, the office 

 of pilot appealed to him as demanding something 

 extraordinarily fine, and so he marched proudly 

 along, clad [in hob-nailed boots and striped trousers, 

 with a big flapping frock coat hanging loosely from 

 his shoulders, and his long black hair crowned by 

 an ancient chimney-pot hat. 



Under ordinary circumstances he would instinc- 

 tively have seized an oar; but on this splendid 

 occasion he sat bolt upright in the stern of the boat, 

 occasionally clutching at his beloved hat lest the 

 gusts of wind should snatch it from him, and allowed 

 the schooner's crew to take him on board. 



Good- hearted, simple-minded Joshua, he did the 

 piloting all right ; but he took to his bed soon after 

 he got home, and we had to bid him good-bye. 

 I lost a good friend when Joshua died ; and Labrador 

 lost the best of the old Eskimo ivory-carvers. 



The art is passing ; from lack of tusks and the 

 call of the hunt less and less time is given to this 

 interesting pursuit, and every year sees fewer and 

 fewer of the quaint little figures sent home for sale : 

 jthe native skill is there, and only needs rousing, as I 

 (have proved by getting some carvings done in wood 

 land soft stone. 



No matter at what time of the day I went into the 

 'Eskimo houses, the women always seemed to be busy 

 with the sealskins; but, for some of them at least, 

 there are times when they put the skins aside and 

 ply their needles on softer stuff ; and they turn out 

 some very neat and pretty embroidery to ornament 



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