114 • REPORT ON THE INTRODUCTION OF 



small, their chests and shoulders are grandly developed, and their arms 

 are muscular and sinewy. 



They are very fond of athletic sports, and football and jumping are 

 indulged in by them to a considerable extent. They indulge in many 

 exercises that test their strength, such as pulling each others arms 

 when locked together, wrestling, lifting each other or heavy weights, 

 and many such exercises that will bring into play every muscle. Many 

 of them excel in jumping and kicking, and occasionally one is found 

 who can kick with both feet higher than his own head, a performance 

 that few white athletes can accomplish. 



The principal amusement of the Eskimo is dancing, and they indulge 

 in it upon the slightest provocation. While the women take part in 

 this pastime, it is with moderation, and as a sort of embellishment to 

 the fatiguing and wearisome jumping about so ceaselessly practiced by 

 the men. They seem to find the most enjoyment in blending their 

 voices with those of the men in song. Although they do not possess 

 the accomplishment to a very great extent, nor is the number of tunes 

 very large, yet there is a harmony in them all that becomes the more 

 pleasing to the ear the oftener they are heard. 



When dancing, one or more of the men beat upon a drum formed by 

 stretching a piece of walrus entrail over a hoop, and this serves as a 

 time-marker for the participants in the dance, to which the grotesque 

 throwing about of the arms and twisting of their bodies are made to 

 add a pantomimic accompaniment. During all this time they jump 

 and whirl about in the most violent manner, and only stop from sheer 

 exhaustion. 



This amusement often assumes the proportion of a festival lasting 

 several days, and whole villages often go long distances to visit those 

 of another. On such occasions the men bedeck themselves in all 

 sorts of grotesque costumes, wearing upon their heads feathers of birds, 

 their faces concealed behind hideous-looking wooden masks, and their 

 bodies bare to the waist. 



Each village possesses a large hut known as " kas gee," a place set 

 apart for festive occasions, and it is the scene of great excitement and 

 demonstrative joy when natives from abroad are present, and they all 

 return home, possessing many, to the Eskimo, costly presents. 



The Eskimo dog is a creature of great sagacity, in his way, and does 

 not possess many of the generally worthless traits of the cur usually 

 found in villages of natives in more temperate climates. He is often 

 cared for with the indulgence of a child, and while the nature of the 

 Eskimo is to be brutal to all creatures not human, his dog is fed regu- 

 larly, and his last fish is shared with the animal when on a journey. 



While the Eskimo prizes his dog highly, it is not because he is 

 actuated by feelings of affection, for he is not looked upon at all in the 

 light of a companion, and is never caressed and petted. His care of 

 the brute is purely from selfish motives, for he realizes that the loss of 



