PUTO AND THE WHITE CHILD. 



179 



This woman had once been considered handsome, and even now 

 showed some signs of her former beauty. She was about 35 years 

 old, and, though she had a hard time of it alone, supporting her- 

 self and child, yet she was generally cheerful, smart, kind, and 

 industrious. On one of my visits to Tookoolito's igloo, Puto 

 with her child was there, and I then witnessed the operation — very 

 rarely performed — of washing a child's face. This was done by 

 licking it all over, much as a dog would do the hand that had 

 just contained a fresh beefsteak. She did this twice while in my 

 presence, and the true color of the child's face was then more 

 clearly seen. 



Owing to some cause or other which I could only surmise, Puto 

 suffered more from various privations than the other women. 

 She was often a week with hardly any thing to eat, and, in con- 

 sequence, her poor child was nearly starved. On the occasion I 

 now refer to, after I had left the igloo and wandered about to other 

 dwellings, I came across Charley and Ebierbing, just arrived with 

 a sledge-load of frozen krang, whale-meat, for the dogs. Puto at 

 the moment also came to the spot, and immediately asked for 

 some. They gave her about twenty -five pounds of it ; and this 

 she slung to her back, along with a pack of equal weight already 

 there, besides the child ! 



Ye mothers of America! what say you to taking an infant, be- 

 sides an additional pack of fifty pounds on your back, and start- 

 ing off on a tramp of several miles — such was the distance to 

 Puto's home — with the thermometer 40° to 45° below the freez- 

 ing point ? 



This, however, reminds me that at the same time I was obliged 

 to be very careful, and especially of my nose. An instance had 

 already occurred — a few days previous — of one of the ship's crew 

 getting his nose frostbitten, without discovering the serious fact 

 until pointed out to him, and thus just saving it in time. Ac- 

 cordingly, I had to protect mine by as much covering as I could ; 

 but, as I then said, deliver me from any more of " Job's comfort- 

 ers" — boils — especially if there be any signs of them approaching 

 that bridge below my eyes, which, from late experience, might in- 

 deed be termed " the bridge of sighs !" 



On the visit just mentioned, I met a sister of Ebierbing, and 

 also another woman, just taking up their quarters in the same 

 place. In fact, it was a matter of mutual accommodation, for the 

 purpose of creating more warmth within, and economizing light 



