6 Social Life among our Aborigines. [ January, 
with driftwood covered with turf. It was, however, as additional . 
defence against unwished-for prowling males, divided into two 
rooms with a very small and narrow door between them, next 
which lay some handy billets of wood to crack the sconce of a 
possible intruder. Here our two Amazons lived, traded and car- 
ried on their affairs in defiance of communal bonds and public 
sentiment. 
The latter seemed to be composed half of disapprobation and 
half of envious admiration; while all the young fellows in the 
village busied themselves in concocting plans against the enter- 
prising pair. These were too fully on the alert to be surprised, 
and all efforts against their peace were fruitless. They did not 
issue a “ Weekly,” dabble in stock or propose to run for office, 
but in other respects their conduct formed a tolerably close par- 
allel with some that has been observed nearer home. 
When the deer-hunting season came, the ladies were off to the 
mountains, and no sooner had they departed than disappointed 
lovers and an “outraged public sentiment” combined in a mob 
which reduced their winter quarters to a shapeless ruin. So far 
as my information goes, the following year they returned to the 
ordinary ways of the world, and gave up the unequal contest 
- against a tyrannical public opinion, so far as their life of isolation 
was concerned. 
~ I knew of several instances in which attractive young women, 
“crossed in love,” led for at least two years (the period during 
-= which I was cognizant of their behavior) a life of celibacy which 
seemed likely to be indefinitely prolonged. These instances 
= seem opposed to the mechanical theory of life among savage 
tribes which has of late been strongly advocated. It is true these 
Eskimo were more intelligent and less depraved than some other 
races of the same stock and than many tribes of exotic habitat. 
Still even among the lowest peoples it seems probable that indi- 
vidual energy, taste and opinion are by no means geen 
factors, and may have far greater influence on the common wea 
‘than is often taken for granted. 
A mother’s love for her children is characteristic even of ani- 
mals, though with the latter it appears to cease with the maturity 
i of the offspring. Among these Eskimo, however, in times of © 
scarcity, if a child be born for whom food can hardly be provided, 
it is exposed to die of cold with its mouth stuffed with a bunch 
of grass to prevent it from crying. This is done as a matter of 
