ON THE ESQUIMAUX 



almost hibernating like the black bear. What would 

 happen when the polar bear got at their meat sup- 

 plies, as he was only too likely to do ? 



Only this year (1894) the crew of the whaler Balaena 

 brought to Dundee the horrible details of what might 

 well be expected. The Balaena s crew discovered on 

 the shore, in a place far removed from all animal life, 

 the dead bodies of three Eskimos, and a number of 

 bleached human bones. These three two men and one 

 woman were evidently the last survivors of a larger 

 party. Near to the bodies three human heads were 

 noticed in each case the throat had been cut and 

 savagely hacked with a knife, while the brains had 

 been extracted through a hole in the skull. A 

 smashed rifle and a bow and arrows were lying near, , 

 and all the evidences of a severe struggle between 

 the last two male survivors. A blood-stained knife 

 was taken from the woman's hand. It is probable 

 the party had been waiting here (Elwin Bay) for 

 the arrival of the whalers in 1893. Alas ! ice had 

 prevented their coming, and at last, among the 

 patiently-expectant little people, an awful tragedy 

 had been enacted. 



Less dramatic incidents also occur in Eskimo life. 

 Thus, in one case recently, an old tyrant had appro- 

 priated the fine new kayak of a poorer man ; and soon 

 srfter this poor fellow was drowned while shooting 

 deer out of his old canoe, of which the skin covering 

 was rotten. His son, a young fellow under twenty, 

 remained quiet a long time. One day, however, he 



