258 



Portable Boats. 



ocean tosses upon those Arctic shores. Over the frame, 

 the covering of seal-skin is tightly aud securely fastened, 

 the seal-skin being neatly and elegantly sewed together, 

 the smooth thin covering being almost transparent, and 

 showing indistinctly the limbs of its owner, who, sitting in 

 the centre of his narrow, tube-like craft, with ihe seal-skin 

 collar of the man-hole gathered and bound around his 

 waist, his coat collar and sleeves also made waterproof, 

 ventures out upon the stormy sea to secure his livelihood ; 

 daring with his harpoon and lance to battle with the walrus 

 and narwal, and to assert, in those wild boreal waters, the 

 pre-eminence of man and mind. 



The kia or kayak has an average length of twenty-five 

 feet, with a width of perhaps eighteen or twenty inches. 

 It has no keel, and being so narrow requires skill in its 

 management among the billows. The Esquimaux, how- 

 ever, with his double-paddle, not only navigates the icy 

 seas with safety, with wonderful skill balancing and pro- 

 pelling himself with his paddle, but also manages to per- 

 form some feats which may be termed national and peculiar 

 to those northern tribes. Be regards it as a mere pastime 

 to leap one kayak over another at sea, but with more 

 caution approaches his chef-d'oeuvre. Throwing himself 

 and canoe sideways violently on the water, w T ith a strong, 

 quick stroke of the paddle, he disappears under the surface 

 to leap in sight again upon the other side — sometimes 

 proceeding thus rapidly fifteen or twenty times — the kayak 

 serving as the axis of motion. Thus we perceive that 

 even the dwellers amid icebergs have their pleasures and 

 pastimes — wild and savage as the rude regions of their 

 habitation, yet dependent upon the same emotions of the 

 heart as those of more favored people. 



It is stated of this boat that "The paddler is so tightly 

 tied to the kia, that he is unable to change his position 

 without assistance, or even to lift a heavy weight, such as 

 a seal. In such a case he asks assistance from a companion. 



