178 THE HUDSON BAY ESKIMO. 



than the average white man, while the women compare favorably in 

 stature with the women of medium height in other countries. 



They have quite different customs from those of their present neigh- 

 bors. Their language is dialectically distinct; about as much so as 

 the Malimyut differ from the Kaviagmyut of Norton Sound, Alaska. 

 The Tahagmyut have a rather harsh toDe; their gutturals are deeper 

 and the vowels usually rather more prolonged. They are much given 

 to amusement and still retain many of the old games, which the Suhi'ni- 

 myut have forgotten or no longer engage in. Their dead are treated 

 with no ceremony. They simply lash the limbs of the deceased to the 

 body and expose the corpse to the elements, removing it, however, from 

 immediate sight of the camp. Old and infirm people are treated with 

 severity, and when dependent upon others for their food they are sum- 

 marily disposed of by strangulation or left to perish when the camp is 

 moved. 



Women are held in little respect, although the men are very jealous 

 of the favors of their wives, and incontinence on the part of the latter 

 is certain to be more or less severely punished. The male offender, if 

 notoriously persistent in his efforts to obtain forbidden favors, is 

 usually killed by the injured lover or husband. 



Gambling is carried on to such a degree among both sexes that even 

 their own lives are staked upon the issue of a game. The winner often 

 obtains the wife of his opponent, and holds her until some tempting 

 otter is made for her retiirn. The only article they possess is frequently 

 wagered, and when they lose they are greeted with derision. The women, 

 especially, stake their only garment rather than be without opportunity 

 to play. The usual game is played with a number of flattened pieces 

 of walrus ivory. On one side are a number of dots forming various 

 crude designs, which have received names from their fancied resem- 

 blance to other objects. These must be matched. The game some- 

 what resembles dominoes, and whether it is original with these Innuit 

 I was unable to conclude. They stoutly maintain that it originated 

 with themselves. I suspect, however, it had its origin in the imitation 

 of some one who had observed the plaj-ing of dominoes on board of 

 some of the whaling vessels visiting these waters. 



For other amusements these Innuit indulge in a number of tests of 

 personal strength, such as wrestling and leaping. 



Feasts are held at stated times in huge structures built of snow blocks. 

 The exact signification of these feasts was not learned, owing to the 

 limited stay these people made each year at Fort Ghimo. Their dress 

 consists of the skins of seals and reindeer. The sealskins are worn 

 during rainy weather and by those who are in the canoe or kaiak. The 

 skirts of their garments are ornamented with an edging of ivory pieces 

 cut into a pear-shape, having a small hole pierced through the smaller 

 end. 



These pieces of ivory, often to the number of many scores, give a 



