.^K THE POINT BARROW ESKIMO. 



hoards and tiowiiiji iiiustaclies" of the Eskimoof tlip Great Fisli River. 

 Sdiiic (it the (ihhT men have nithcr lieavy hhick imistaehes, Imt there is 

 iiiueh variation in this resjieet. Tlie upper part ot tlie body (as much 

 is commonly exposed in tlie house) is remarkably tree from hair. The 

 general exi^ression is good humored and attractive. 



The males, even when very young, are remarkalile for their jjraeeful 

 and dionifled carriage. The body is held erect, with the shoulders 

 square and chest well thrown out, the knees straight, and the feet firmly 

 planted on the ground. In walking they move with long swinging elas- 

 tic strides, the toes well turned out and the arms swinging. 



I can not agree with Dr. Simpson that the turning out of the toes 

 gives " a certain peculiarity to their gait dififlcult to describe." ' 1 should 

 say that they walked like well built athletic white men. The women, 

 on the other hand, although possessing good physiques, are singularly 

 ungraceful in their movements. They walk at a sort of shuffling half- 

 trot, with the toes turned in, the body leaning forward, and the arms 

 hanging awkwardly.^ 



A noticeable thing about the women is the remarkable flexibility of 

 the body and limbs, and the great length of time they can stand in a 

 stooping posture. (See I'ig. ."> for a posture often assumed in working.) 



Both men and women have a very fair share of muscular strength. 

 Some of the women, especially, showed a power of carrying heavy loads 

 superior to most white men. We were able to make no other compari- 

 sons of llieir stienjith \\\t\i ours. Their powt-r of endurance is very 

 great, and botii sc\c^ an- capable of making long distances on foot. 

 Two men sometime-< sjhmuI L'I Ihhiis tramping tliroiigh the lonyii ice in 

 search of seals, and we knew of instances where small panics made 

 journeys of 50 or 75 miles on foot without stopping to sleep. 



The women are not prolific. Although all the adults are or have been 

 married, many of them are childless, and few have more than two chil- 

 dren. One woman was known to have at least four, but investigations 

 of this sort were rendered extremely difficult by the universal custom 



' Op. cit., p. 238. ' Cf. Simpson, op. cit.. p. 240. 



