NELSON] INSENSIBILITY TO EXPOSURE 723) 
built. Among them it is common to see men from 5 feet 10 inches to 
6 feet tall and of proportionate build. I should judge the average 
among them to be nearly or quite equal in height to the whites. 
Among the coast Eskimo, as a rule, the legs are short’ and poorly 
developed, while the body is long, with disproportionately developed 
dorsal and lumbar muscles, due to so much of their life being passed 
in the kaiak. 
The Eskimo of the Big lake~ district, south of the Yukon, and from 
the Kaviak peninsula, as well as the Malemut about the head of Kot- 
zebue sound, are, on the contrary, very finely proportioned and athletic 
men, who can not be equaled among the Indians of the Yukon region. 
This fine physical development is attributable to the fact that these 
people are so located that their hunting is largely on open tundra or in 
the mountains, thus producing a more symmetric development than is 
possible among those whose lives are passed mainly in the kaiak. 
There were a number of halfblood children among the Eskimo, 
resulting from the intercourse with people from vessels and others, 
who generally show their Caucasian blood by large, finely shaped, and 
often remarkably beautiful brown eyes. The number of these mixed 
bloods was not very great. 
As a race the Eskimo are very hardy and insensible to cold. While 
the Corwin was at anchor in Hotham inlet during the fall of 1881, I 
found a Malemut woman with two little girls, one about two years and 
the other five years of age, lying fast asleep on the deck of the vessel 
clothed only in their ordinary garments. A very raw wind was blow- 
ing at the time, and it was difficult for us to keep warm even while 
moving about in heavy overcoats. 
While I was at the head of Norton sound during February, when 
the temperature stood at minus 40° Fahrenheit, a boy 10 years of age, 
with a sled and three dogs, was sent back several miles along the 
previous day’s trail to recover a pair of Jost snowshoes. He started 
off alone and returned a few hours later with the snowshoes, his cheeks 
glowing red from the cold, but without other indication of the effect 
of the temperature. 
The men lead a hard and perilous life in the districts bordering the 
sea, where much of the hunting is done in kaiaks. In spring they go 
long distances offshore, and are sometimes cast adrift on the moving 
ice, requiring the greatest effort to return to the land. In:a number 
of instances that tame to my notice men were forced to spend one or 
two days fighting their way back to shore in their kaiaks, after having 
been driven seaward by a strong wind. 
In addition, the constant wetting and exposure throughout the entire 
year helps gradually to undermine the strength of the natives; as a 
result, consumption and rheumatic complaints are common, and but 
few live to an advanced age. Families rarely have more than two or 
three children, and it is not uncommon for them to have none. 
