198 HUNTERS OF THE GREAT NORTH 



it can be carried on the shoulders of men over a portage 

 or freighted by dogs on a sled, the umiak has many other 

 peculiar advantages. For one thing, the hides it is made 

 of are so exceedingly tough that you can sail with a speed 

 of four or five miles an hour into a piece of ice as solid 

 as a rock with little danger of serious injury. You may 

 break one of the ribs of the boat but that will merely make 

 a little dent in the side of your craft and can be fixed 

 whenever you like. If you tear a hole in the boat it can 

 be readily patched up by the Eskimo women with their 

 needles. Another great advantage is the ease of landing. 

 You can land on any beach except among actual rocks 

 even in fairly bad weather. This is partly because the 

 boat is so light that it draws very little water and partly 

 because the bottom is flat. The light draft is an especial 

 advantage in river travel.^ A whaleboat carrying a ton 

 of freight will draw about efghteen inches where an umiak 

 carrying the same amount of freight would not draw more 

 than eight or ten inches. 



In some ways an even better boat than the umiak is 

 the kayak. This has the outlines of a racing shell. The 

 frame is made of light wood and whalebone. The entire 

 craft is closed in so that the waves can dash over it with- 

 out entering. In the old days the Eskimos used to go in 

 waterproof shirts that were fastened tight around the neck 

 of the wearer, around his wrists and around the mouth of 

 the kayak in such a way that even if it capsized no water 

 could get into the boat. A good boatman would be able 

 to right himself even in fairly heavy weather. For this 

 reason the seal hunting Eskimos go out on the ocean in 

 summer weather where no other craft of the same size 

 could poa ; l)ly live. A special use of the kayak is in 

 spearing caribou when they are swimming rivers or lakes. 



