BOAS.] SOCIAL LIFE — VISITING. r)75 



Longer journeys are i^ostpoiied until sining, when food can be pro- 

 cured more easily. These journeys are planned a long time before 

 they are made. While the families generally leave what they can 



spare of their household ^' Is in winti-v at their summer settlement, 



they bringaway cvcrviliiii- ihcy possess to the winter village if they 

 intend to visit a nciglilioring tribe in tlie spring. In April or May 

 they leave their snow houses; the tent poles and the whole of their 

 goods are loaded upon the .sledge, only the boats being left behind in 

 charge of some friend, and then they start upon their long, lonely 

 journey. On the first ila>- tiny do not travel far, but make the first 

 halt after about a twelve-mile journey. As the load is heavy the men 

 and women sit on the top of the sledges only to rest. The driver waljvs 

 alongside and the women lead the way, the dogs pulling more will- 

 ingly if they see somebody ahead of the sledge. At night it is not 

 unloaded, only those things being taken out which are necessary for 

 building a small tent and for cooking. In order to j^rotect the 

 sledge from the attacks of the dogs, the pitu (see p. 530) is taken out 

 and fastened to an eye cut into the ice with the end of the spear. After 

 having traveled about three days a longer halt is made ; the sledge 

 is unloaded, the dogs are vmharnessed, and the men go out hunting 

 in order to procure food for the dogs and for themselves. Thus they 

 slowly proceed until they at last reach the end of their journey. 

 Here they settle down with the friends whom they have come to visit, 

 establish a hiit of their own, and spend a whole year with them. In 

 the following spring thej^ retrace their journey to their own homes. 

 Journeys of four to five himdred miles in one spring are not of rare 

 occurrence; longer journeys, however, frequently last for years. 



A journey of two hundred miles, going and coming, is sometimes 

 accomplished in one season. For such a journey they would set 

 out in March or April, leaving all their goods behind, and live with 

 the friends whom they visit for a month or two, returning about 

 June. While on the visit the visitors help their friends to provide 

 for their families. 



In traveling in the spring the Eskimo always use snow goggles to 

 protect themselves from snow blindness. The modern ones (Fig. 

 539), which are made of wood and have a shade and a narrow slit for 

 each eye, are very effective. The old design is represented in Fig. 

 530, the specimen being made of ivory. 



Long journeys are sometimes made in summer, several families 

 traveling together in their boats. As, however, the open season is 

 very short in many parts of Northeastern America, spring journeys 

 are more frecpieiitly made. 



When traveling liy lioat the tent poles, skin covers, and all the 

 household gooils aie stowed away in the bottom. The women do 

 the pulling, three or four working at each oar, while a man sits on the 

 stern board steering with a paddle. They move on at their leisure, 



