454 OUR ARCTIC PROVINCE. 



country, by " carrying their ships (baidars) overland to the meres 

 whence they make depredations on the Northmen ; their ships are 

 small and very light." 



Until I saw these bidarrahs of the St. Lawrence natives, in 1874, 

 I was more or less inclined to believe that the tough, thick, and 

 spongy hide of a walrus would be too refractory in dressing for 

 use in covering such light frames, especially those of the bidarka ; 

 but the manifest excellence and seaworthiness of those Eskimo 

 boats satisfied me that I was mistaken. I saw, however, abundant 

 evidence of a much greater labor required to tan or pare down 

 this thick cuticle to that thin, dense transparency so marked on 

 their bidarrahs ; for the pelt of a hair-seal, or sea-lion, does not 

 need any more attention, when applied to this service, than that of 

 simply unhairing it. This is done by first sweating the " loughtak " 

 in piles, then rudely, but rapidly, scraping with blunt knives or 

 stone flensers the hair off in large patches at every stroke ; the 

 skin is then air-dried, being stretched on a stout frame, where, in 

 the lapse of a few weeks, it becomes as rigid as a board. When- 

 ever wanted for use thereafter, it is soaked in water until soft or 

 " green " again ; then it is sewed with sinews, while in this fresh 

 condition, tightly over the slight wooden skeleton of the bidarka or 

 the heavier frame of a bidarrah. In this manner all boats and 

 lighters at the islands are covered. Then they are air-dried thor- 

 oughly before oiling, which is done when the skin has become well 

 indurated, so as to bind the ribs and keel as with an iron plating. 

 The thick, unrefined seal-oil keeps the water out for twelve to 

 twenty hours, according to the character of the hides. When, 

 however, the skin-covering begins to " bag in " between the ribs of 

 its frame, then it is necessary to haul the bidarrah out and air-dry 

 it again, and then re-oil. If attended to thoroughly and constant- 

 ly, those skin-covered boats are the best species of lighter which 

 can be used in these waters, for they will stand more thumping and 

 pounding on the rocks and alongside ship than all wooden, or even 

 corrugated-iron, lighters could endure and remain seaworthy. 



The flesh of the walrus is not, to our palate, at all toothsome ; 

 it is positively uninviting. That flavor of the raw, rank mollusca, 

 upon which it feeds, seems to permeate every fibre of its flesh, mak- 

 ing it very offensive to the civilized palate ; but the Eskimo, who 

 do not have any of our squeamishness, regard it as highly and feed 

 upon it as steadily, as we do on our own best corn-fed beef. Indeed, 



