THE CROWD AND THE SINGING 



made them nice and low, to suit the short Eskimo 

 legs ; and though we did not paint them they always 

 looked spruce, for Sarah and Valeria, the two char- 

 women, took no end of pride in scrubbing them. I 

 was very well satisfied with the benches because 

 the people liked them. 



As I expected, the room was packed to the 

 utmost on the first day of the singing. There were 

 seats for about fifty, and as " first come, first served " 

 was the rule, the people began to come early. By 

 a quarter to nine there was a crowd on the doorsteps 

 not an orderly queue, by any means, but a jolly- 

 tempered mob, clinging to the railings and jostling to 

 get nearer to the door, and constantly reinforced 

 by new arrivals from all parts of the village. An 

 avalanche of boisterous humanity surged in and 

 nearly overwhelmed me when I opened the door upon 

 the stroke of nine; but it was only a momentary 

 boisterousness at a word the avalanche changed to 

 an orderly procession. 



That is one of the many things I like about the 

 Eskimos they are staid and decorous in their natural 

 demeanour, and so, when it does happen that their 

 spirits bubble over and they begin to be noisy, they 

 are easy to control. 



The benches were full long before the stream of 

 people had ceased, but the folks seemed determined 

 to get in ; those who could not find room on the 

 benches squatted on the floor, and those who were 

 unable even to nudge their way into squatting-room 

 on the floor stayed in the passage or sat upon the 

 stairs, and we left the door open for their benefit. 

 It was amusing, but quite characteristic, to observe 



that the indefatigable old Maria had somehow 



270 



