648 THE CENTRAL ESKIMO. 



balanced by leaving out a montb every few years, to wit, the month 

 siringilang (without sun), which is of indeiinite duration, the name 

 covering the whole time of the year when the sun does not rise and 

 there is scarcely any dawn. Thus every few years this month is 

 totally omitted, when the new moon and the winter solstice coincide. 

 The name qaumartenga is applied only to the days without sun but 

 with dawn, while the rest of the same moon is called siriniktenga. 

 The days of the month are very exactly designated by the age of the 

 moon. Years are not reckoned for a longer space than two, back- 

 ward and forward. 



The Eskimo are excellent draftsmen and carvers. Most of the 

 drawings are similar to the bear and deer shown on Plate V (Figs. 

 d and g) or to the illustrations of the Qaudjaqdjuq tale (see Figs. 

 537-541, pp. 631-633.) The rest, on Plates Viand VII, are excel- 

 lently made, and by far superior to any I have seen made by other 

 Eskimo of these regions. A number of carvings are represented on 

 Plates VIII and IX. The narwhal and the whale are particularly 

 admirable. Among the implements represented in this paper there 

 are many of beautiful and artistic design. 



1 also add a number of engravings of implements plainly showing 

 the -nfluence of European patterns (Plate X). 



POETRY AND MUSIC. 



Among the arts of the Eskimo poetry and music are by far the 

 most prominent. The tales which have been related are only a small 

 part of their stock of traditions. Besides the contents their form 

 also is very interesting, as most of them have been handed down in 

 unchanged form and their narration demands a great deal of art. 

 Many traditions are told in a very abridged form, the substance being 

 supposed to be known. A specimen of this kind is the Sedna tradi- 

 tion (p. 604). All these tales must be considered recitatives, many 

 of them beginning with a musical phrase and continuing as a rhyth- 

 mic recitation, others being recited in rhythmic phrases throughout. 

 Other traditions are told in a more detailed and prosaic manner, 

 songs or recitations, however, being sometimes included. Ititau- 

 jang, for instance, in traveling into the country looking for his wife, 

 sings the song No. XIII, and in the Kalopaling tradition the boy, on 

 seeing the two Inuit coming, sings: 



mirqo - sai - ling 



