250 fflSTORY AND ETHNOLOGY. 



The Esquimaux, 



The Esquimaux are a tribe of northern America, inhabiting the range 

 of the coasts on the Arctic Sea, Greenland, and the numerous adjacent 

 islands, but numbering probably not more than 30,000 individuals, who 

 differ entirely in formation and habits, from the rest of the aborigines 

 of America. The Humoky or Esquimaux proper, considered the stock 

 from which all others are derived, live on the eastern, western, and 

 northern coasts of Labrador. Their principal residences are in the vici- 

 nity of the coasts, and upon the numerous small islands bordering upon 

 it ; as in such situations they are best able to follow their chief business, 

 seal-hunting. Prominent cheek-bones, broad forehead, small eyes, fiat 

 nose, large mouth, white and naturally irregular teeth, and spotted yellow 

 complexion, amongst the female sex somewhat lighter, characterize the 

 Esquimaux in the main. The women only tattoo their foreheads, cheeks, 

 and chins. They wear ringlets at the temples, and the rest of the hair is 

 plaited as among civilized nations. Men attain a height of five feet and 

 upwards, are broad shouldered, but do not possess so much muscular power 

 as the Greenlanders. Adult males wear small mustachios and a diminutive 

 beard on the chin. Like the Greenlanders, they have summer and winter 

 residences. The former consist of tents ; the latter, of caverns in the earth 

 or hollows in the snow resembling ovens, the entrances to which are closed 

 with blocks of ice. Raw flesh is preferred by them to cooked meat, and 

 from this circumstance they have obtained the name Esquimaux (i. e. raw- 

 flesh eaters). On the whole their customs and usages are similar to those 

 of the Greenlanders, but to their relatives they appear much more hard- 

 hearted than the latter, at least those uninfluenced by the doctrines of the 

 Moravians. If the first-born child, for instance, dies, and its mother still 

 survives, she is killed ; and aged, infirm persons, widows and orphans, are 

 robbed of their property and left to perish. The only domestic animal 

 is the dog ; it is, however, very ferocious, attacks strangers, is stubborn, 

 and never fondles ; but nevertheless displays fidelity towards its master. 

 It cannot bark, but merely howls. Six of these dogs are usually attached 

 in front of the sleigh of an Esquimaux, each having a collar of sealskin, to 

 which a thong of strong leather, nine feet in length, is attached, and 

 fastened by the other end to the fore part of the sleigh. As soon as the 

 dogs hear the crack of the Vv^hip, they set off" in a run, and are easily 

 managed without reins, either by the voice or the sounds of the lash. With 

 sleighs of this description occupied usually by one person only, but some- 

 times containing even from four to six, the Esquimaux make from forty to 

 fifty miles in a day. 



The Esquimaux inhabiting the shores of Baffin's Bay resemble those of 

 Greenland and Labrador, but speak a different dialect, and devote greater 

 attention to fishing and hunting. Their dress, according to Captain Ross, 

 consists principally of fine reindeer skins. The upper garments are double, 

 the inner skin having the hair turned inside, the outer, outside. They 

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