20 NATURAL HISTORY OF ARCTIC AMERICA. 



Salmo salary and one other species of Salmo that I could not procure 

 enough of to identify, are caught to some extent in June and September 

 in some of the larger fjords 5 they are mostly caught with a spear, but 

 sometimes with a hook. (For description vide under hunting-gear, &c.) 



When these fish are caught, they are put into a seal-skin bag, and it 

 remains tied up till the whole becomes a mass of putrid and fermenting 

 fish, about as repulsive to taste, sight, and smell as can be imagined. 

 Coitus scorpius, which contributes so largely towards the Greenlander's 

 larder, is not utilized by the Cumberland Eskimo, except in cases of a 

 scarcity of other food supplies ; the fish is abundant in their waters, 

 however, and fully as good eating as they are on the Greenland coast. 



Birds and their eggs also contribute towards their sustenance in sea- 

 son $ they are extremely fond of eggs, and devour them in astonishing 

 quantities. 



The "black skin" of the whale, called by them mulctuJc, is esteemed 

 the greatest delicacy. When they first procure a supply of this food, 

 they almost invariably eat themselves sick, especially the children. We 

 found this black skin not unpleasant tasting when boiled and then pickled 

 in strong vinegar and eaten cold 5 but the first attempts at masticating it 

 will remind one of chewing India rubber. When eaten to excess, espe- 

 cially when raw, it acts as a powerful laxative. It is generally eaten 

 with about half an inch of blubber adhering. 



The greater portion of their food is eaten raw, especially in winter. 

 When they cook at all, they only "simmer" it over their lamps in a pot 

 of soapstone. These pots are from eight to twenty inches in length, 

 usually about sixteen inches, and though of variable patterns, the length 

 is generally three times the width or depth. Among such Eskimo as 

 are able to procure old cast-away meat-cans from around the ships, tin 

 has superseded the soapstone both for lamps and boiling-pots. 



In summer, especially when on hunting excursions, they very often 

 "fry" meat by making a little fireplace of stones, and laying a flat piece 

 of stone on the top. The opening to receive the fuel supply is to wind- 

 ward. For fuel at such times they use Cassiope tetragona and Ledum 

 palustre; these shrubs make a quick and very hot fire. It would be 

 comparatively an easy task for these people to gather enough Cassiope 

 tetragona during the summer to burn during the coldest weather, and 

 not rely wholly upon blubber. 



When the Eskimo have been simmering meat, especially seal, in their 

 boiling-pots, they pour off the liquor and mix it with about an equal 



