Arctic Cruise of the U.S. S. Thetis in 1889. 195 
the district. He had been in the employ of the whaling station 
established the previous year at Point Hope, and had been satis- 
factory in all his dealings with the whites. His wife was a very 
superior woman, and their desire for civilized usages was so 
great that a bread-pan of tin, some granite-ware bowls, and 
candles, were given and eagerly accepted as contributing to make 
their domestic lives more comfortable and civilized. An urgent 
request was made for a cooking-stove, which I promised to give 
them if I should return the following summer. _ 
The Eskimo lamp which serves as a light, and to some extent as 
a stove, is a crescent-shaped stone utensil with a shallow trough 
scooped out; this is a receptacle for the whale-oil, the wick 
being some native moss laid along the edge of the lamp and 
trimmed from time to time, the supply of oil being kept up by a 
lump of blubber suspended over the lamp. The light being 
indifferent, candles are welcomed as a great improvement and 
a marked relief to the over-taxed eyes of the men and women 
during the long nights of the Arctic winter. 
During our stay at Point Hope we found much of interest in 
connection with the Eskimos living there. Their long winters 
give them an opportunity to keep alive their traditions in their 
daily meetings in the council-house, and they give an account of 
their early days in this wise: In the beginning the people had 
heads like ravens, with eyes in the upper part of their breasts. 
All the world at this time was wrapt in gloom, with no change 
of day and night. At that time there lived a powerful chieftain 
on top of the highest peak. In his hut were suspended two balls 
that were considered very precious and were therefore care- 
fully guarded. One day, the chief being absent and the guards 
_ asleep, some children who had long admired the beautiful balls 
knocked them down with a. stick and they rolled across the floor 
of the hut and down the side of the mountain. The noise 
awakened the guards, who hurried after them, while their 
extraordinary beauty attracted the attention of the people, 
who also rushed after them, a wild struggle ensuing for their 
possession ; this ended in the breaking of the balls. Light 
sprang from one and darkness from the other ; these spirits of 
light and darkness claimed sole dominion, but, neither yielding, 
a compromise was made by which they agreed to an alternate 
tule. The violent struggle for the mastery so disturbed the 
world that the anatomy of the people and the surface of the 
