142 ACROSS THE SUB-ARCTICS OF CANADA. 
cranky craft in the hands of a novice, it is used in perfect. 
safety, even in very rough water, by an expert. Indeed 
the Eskimos have an arrangement by which they can 
travel while almost submerged in the water. They have 
a thin waterproof parchment coat which they pull on 
over their heads in rough weather. This they place on 
the outside of the rim at the opening of the kyack, and 
tie securely, so that if the boat were to turn upside down 
the water could not rush in. 
An Eskimo in his kyack can travel much faster 
than two men can paddle an ordinary canoe. I have 
known them to make six miles an hour in dead water, 
whereas four miles 
would be good going 
for a canoe. 
The “ oomiack,” or 
woman's boat, 1s a 
ESKIMO OOMIACK. flat-bottomed affair 
of large carrying 
capacity. Like the kyack it is a skin-covered frame, 
the many pieces of which are lashed together with 
thongs of skin or whalebone; but instead of being 
covered on top it is open, and is of a much broader 
model, and not so sharp at the ends. It is chiefly 
used by the women for moving camp from place to 
place, but is never used in the hunt. It is essentially 
a freighting craft, whereas the kyack is used only for 
hunting or speedy travel. Oomiacks are often made 
large enough to carry thirty or forty people. They are 
propelled by ordinary paddles, not by the long double- 
bladed ones used with the kyacks. 
The komitick is a sled of rather peculiar design, 
consisting simply of two parallel runners, twelve or four- 
