ON THE ESQUIMAUX 177 



bear. Then it must be spued up and return to his 

 body, which is shut up in a dark house. A drum and 

 other noises are kept up during the ceremony. 1 



They have a vague tradition of a flood, saying 

 that the world upset once, and all but one man were 

 drowned. They prove this by the fact of shells being 

 found high above the sea, and even the remains of a 

 whale on a high mountain. They believe in a future 

 life and a happier one than this, where there is per- 

 petual summer, and they locate it at the bottom of 

 the sea, whence they get their richest possessions, 

 or in the bowels of the earth. Reindeer are there 

 quite common, and their beloved seals are ever ready, 

 swimming in a large boiling kettle. 1 



Nansen tells us they thought that all inanimate 

 objects had spirits, and that this is the reason that 

 they buried with the warrior his boat and weapons, 

 and often figures like dolls, possibly to represent 

 his wives. I found several of these old graves, and 

 two I examined. One, evidently very ancient, was 

 perched on a high central promontory, overlooking 

 the entrances to two bays ; perhaps in order that 

 as the harp seals or wild birds passed, the warrior 

 might, even in death, look .down upon those who of 

 yore so oft paid tribute to his skill. The body in 

 every grave is simply laid on the surface on its 

 back, in its clothes in one grave a female skeleton 

 lay alongside a male one. Over it is built a rude 

 structure roofed with large flat stones, so that the 



1 The Eskimo, by Dr. F. Nansen. 



N 



