50 A SUMMER IN GREENLAND 
no audible signs of quarrelling: the Greenlander 
appreciates peace; his sharpest weapon, as a Dane 
familiar with the people said to me, is irony. The 
majority show, in a greater or less degree, signs of 
admixture of Eskimo and European blood. Many 
have Mongolian features; some resemble North 
American Indians, and others might pass for 
Europeans. A few of the men we met had thick 
black curly hair in contrast to the usual straight 
black hair. The natives that are true to type have 
broad oblong faces with chubby cheeks, high 
cheek-bones and a pointed crown, flat noses, and 
small dark eyes. 
The men are taught at an early age the art of 
hunting seals, walrus, and other animals, and this 
involves, as the first step towards efficiency in pro- 
curing the necessaries of life, the mastery of the 
‘kayak. A Greenlander is inseparable from his 
kayak, the long, narrow boat (Fig. 20) which Sir 
Clements Markham has aptly described as ‘the 
most perfect application of art and ingenuity to the 
pursuit of necessaries of life within the Arctic 
Circle.” The kayak and harpoon, says Nansen, 
‘rank as the highest achievement of the Eskimo 
mind.’ A kayak is about 17 ft. long, rather less 
than 2 ft. broad and with a depth in the middle 
of about 9 inches. The open wooden framework 
(Fig. 21) is covered, except in the centre where a 
circular hole is left to fit the kayaker, with seal- 
skins that are put on in a raw or wet state, and con- 
tract on drying. The harpoon-shaft with throwing- 
stick and a line attached at one end to the barbed 
