202 THE HUDSON BAY ESKIMO. 



always disappeared iii a few hours when she wore it. It was with the 

 greatest difficulty that I persuaded her to part with it. She was, how- 

 ever, about to return home, and could get another there. 



ODTDOOR MPE. 



The Eskimo acquire an extended knowledge of the country by early 

 accompanying their parents on hunting trii)s, and as they have to rely 

 upon memory alone, they must be observant and carefully mark the 

 surroundings from all the views afforded. The faculty of memory is 

 thus cultivated to an astonishing degree, and seldom fails, even in the 

 most severe weatlier, to insure safety for the individual. I knew a 

 native stick liis ramrod in the ground among scattered stalks of grass 

 which attained the height of the rod, yet after several hours he found 

 the spot again without the least hesitation. Every rise of land, every 

 curve of a stream, every cove in the seashore, has a name descriiitive 

 of something connected with it, and these names are known to all who 

 have occasion to visit the place. Though the aspect of the land is 

 entirely changed by the mantle of snow which covers all the smaller 

 objects, a hunter will go straight to the place where the carcass of a 

 single deer was cached many mouths before on the open beach. The 

 Eskimo are faithful guides, and when confidence is shown to be reposed 

 in them they take a pride in leading the party by the best route. In 

 traveling by night they use the north star for the guide. Experience 

 teaches them to foretell the weather, and some reliance may be placed 

 on their predictions. 



Their knowledge of the seasons is also wonderful. The year begins 

 when the sun has reached its lowest point, that is, at the winter 

 solstice, and summer begins with the summer solstice. They recoguize 

 the arrival of the solstices by the bearing of the sun with reference to 

 certain fixed landmarks. 



The seasons have distinctive names, and these are agaiu subdivided 

 into a great number, of which there are more during the warmer 

 weather than during the winter. The reason for this is obvious: so 

 many changes are going on diu'iug the summer and so few dui"ing the 

 winter. The principal events are the return of the sun, always a 

 signal of joy to the people; the lengthening of the day; the warm 

 weather in March when the sun has attained suflicient height to make 

 his rays less slanting and thus be more fervent; the melting of the 

 snow; the breaking up of the ice; the open water; the time of birth 

 of various seals; the advent of exotic birds; the nesting of gulls, 

 eiders, and other native birds; the arrival of white whales and the 

 whaling season; salmon fishing; the ripening of salmonberries and 

 other species of edibles; the time of reindeer crossing the river; the 

 trapping of fur-bearing animals and hunting on land and water for 

 food. Each of these periods has a special name applied to it, although 

 several may overlap each other. The appearance of mosquitoes, sand- 



