170 Canadian Arctic Expedition, 1913-18 



up like wild plants, without much care or attention from the time they can rim 

 about till thfey approach puberty. A girl receives a little elementary education 

 in cooking and sewing and in dressing meat. She is encouraged to make dolls 

 and to mend her own clothing, her mother teaching her how to cut out the skins. 

 Both boys and girls learn to stalk game by accompanying their elders on hunting 

 excursions ; their fathers make bows and arrows for them suited to their strength. 

 One of their favourite pastimes is to carry out, in miniature, some of the duties 

 they will have to perform when they grow up. Thus httle girls often have tiny 

 lamps in the corners of their huts over which they will cook some meat to share 

 with their playmates. In summer they love to sleep out-of-doors together, or 

 to set up house in an empty tent. So the days pass happily enough imtil they 

 reach manhood and womanhood and take up the responsibilities of hfe in real 

 earnest. 



The Rev. Mr. Girling tells me of a very touching custom that he witnessed 

 on two or three occasions. He was travelling along the coast with an Eskimo 

 from Bathurst inlet when the native met his aged mother, whom he had not seen 

 for many years. The old woman lifted up the front of her coat, exposing her 

 breast, and her son reverently stooped down and touched it with his lips. How- 

 ever rude and uncultured these Eskimos may be, the bond that binds the mother 

 to her child is an enduring one, lasting as long as life itself. 



