INNUITS EATING RAW FOOD. 



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was brought to the ship, some of the skin, about twenty square 

 feet, had, by permission, been consumed by hungry natives. The 

 "black skin" is three fourths of an inch thick, and looks like In- 

 dia-rubber. It is good eating in its raw state even for a white 

 man, as I know from experience ; but when boiled and soused 

 in vinegar it is most excellent. 



I afterward saw the natives cutting up the Jcrang (meat) of the 

 whale* into such huge slices as their wives could carry ; and as 

 they worked, so did they keep eating. Boat-load after boat-load 

 of this did they send over to the village, where several deposits 

 were made upon islands in the vicinity. All day long were they 

 eating; and, thought I, "What monstrous stomachs must these 

 Esquimaux have !" Yet I do not think, on the whole, they eat 

 more than white men. But the quantity taken in one day — 

 enough to last for several days — is what astonishes me ! They 

 are, in truth, a peculiar people. " God hath made of one blood all 

 nations of men to dwell on the whole face of the earth, and hath 

 determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their 

 habitations." Take the Esquimaux away from the arctic regions 

 — from the shores of the northern seas, and they would soon 

 cease from the face of the earth. The bounds of their habitations 

 are fixed by the Eternal, and no one can change them. Thus 

 these people live. 



My opinion is, that the Esquimaux practice of eating their food 

 raw is a good one — at least for the better preservation of their 

 health. To one educated otherwise, as we whites are, the Esqui- 

 maux custom of feasting on uncooked meats is highly repulsive ; 

 but eating meats raw or cooked is entirely a matter of education. 

 " As the twig is bent, the tree's inclined," is an old saw as appli- 

 cable to the common mind of a people in regard to the food they 

 eat as to any thing else. When I saw the natives actually feasting 

 on the raw flesh of the whale, I thought to myself, " Why can not I 

 do the same ?" and the response to my question came rushing 

 through my brain, independent of prejudice, " Because of my edu- 

 cation — because of the customs of my people from time immemo- 

 * rial." 



As I stood upon the rocky shore observing the busy natives at 

 work carving the monster before me, my eye caught a group 

 around one of the vertebrae, from which they were slicing and eat- 



* The blood of this whale, a short time after its death, was rising 1 00° Fahrenheit. 

 Forty-eight hours after, its krang was still quite warm. 



