SPRING JOURNEY IN A SKIN BOAT 197 



umiak and commence their spring journey (if it is going 

 to be a long one) several weeks before the ice on the 

 rivers or ocean breaks up. They travel along until the 

 water from the coastal rivers floods the ice. At first this 

 water makes travel impossible, for it soaks into the snow 

 that is on the ice and converts it into a foot or two of 

 slush. Two or three weeks later holes will have opened 

 all over the ice, the water will have drained off and then 

 you can travel by sled for two or three more weeks until 

 the ice finally breaks up completely under the heat of 

 the sun and the influence of the winds and currents. 

 Then begins the boat travel proper. This may be by any 

 of three methods. 



In traveling up river, "tracking" is ordinarily employed. 

 A long rope is fastened to the mast of the boat three or 

 four feet up and a dog team is hitched to the other end 

 of the rope. One man walks along the river bank ahead 

 of the dogs and the rest of the party ride in the boat, one 

 of them acting as steersman. By this method you can 

 travel upstream, even against a strong current, with a 

 speed of from two to four miles an hour. When you are 

 going down stream or traveling on a lake or on the ocean 

 in calm weather, you can use either paddles or oars. As 

 a matter of fact, both are frequently in use at the same 

 time. In Greenland the men are said to have a prejudice 

 against oars, only women using them. But in Alaska 

 either men or women may use oars and either may use 

 paddles. 



The most serious defect of the umiak is that it has no 

 keel and will not sail into the wind. But if you have a 

 side wind or a fair wind it sails very well with a leg-of- 

 mutton or any other type of ordinary boat sail. 

 £ln addition to its lightness and the ease with which 



