THE ESQUIMAUX. 



291 



show some variety in its manners and mode of life, and that the same descrip- 

 tion is not applicable in all points to the disciples of the Moravian brothers in 

 Labrador or Greenland, to the Greek-Catholic Aleuts, and to the far more nu- 

 merous heathen Esquimaux of continental America, or of the vast archipelago 

 beyond its northern shores. Upon the whole, however, it is curious to observe 

 how exactly, amidst all diversity of time and place, these people have preserved 

 unaltered their habits and manners. The broad, flat face, widest just below the 

 eyes, the forehead generally narrow and tapering upward ; the eyes narrow and 

 more or less oblique ; all indicate a Mongol or Tartar type, differing greatly 

 from the features of the conterminous Red Indian tribes. Their complexion, 

 when relieved from smoke and dirt, also approaches more nearly to white than 

 that of their copper-colored neighbors. Most of the men are rather under the 

 medium English size, but they can not be said to be a dwarfish race. Thus 

 Simpson saw in Camden Bay three Esquimaux who measured from five feet 

 ten inches to six feet ; and among the natives of Smith Strait, Kane, a rather 

 short man, met with one a foot taller than himself. The females, however, are 

 all comparatively short. The Esquimaux are all remarkably broad-shouldered, 

 and though their muscles are not so firm as those of the European seamen, yet 

 they surpass in bodily strength all the other natives of America. In both sexes 

 the hands and feet are remarkably small and well-formed. From exercise in 

 hunting the seal and walrus, the muscles of the arms and back are much devel- 

 oped in the men, who are moreover powerful wrestlers. When young, the Es- 

 quimaux looks cheerful and good-humored, and the females exhibit, when laugh- 

 ing, a set of very white teeth. Could they be induced to wash their faces, 

 many of these savage beauties would be found to possess a complexion scarcely 

 a shade darker than that of a deep brunette ; but though disinclined to ablu- 

 tions, for which the severity of their climate may serve as an excuse, they are 

 far from neglecting the arts of the toilette. 



Unlike the Hare Indian and Dog-Rib females, in whom the hard rule of their 

 lords and masters has obliterated every trace of female vanity, the Esquimaux 

 women tastefully plait their straight, black, and glossy hair ; and hence we may 

 infer that greater deference is paid to them by the men. They also generally 

 tattoo their chin, forehead, and cheeks, not, however, as in the South Sea Isl- 

 ands, with elaborate patterns, but with a few simple lines, which have a not un- 

 pleasing effect. 



From Bering's Straits eastward as far as the Mackenzie, the males pierce 

 the lower lip near each angle of the mouth, and fill the apertures with labrets 

 of blue or green quartz, or of ivory resembling buttons. Many also pierce the 

 septum of the nose, and insert a dentalium shell or ivory needle. Like the Red 

 Indians, they are fond of beads, but their most common ornament consists in 

 strings of teeth of the fox, wolf, or musk-ox — sometimes many hundreds in 

 number — which are either attached to the lower part of the jacket, or fastened 

 as a belt round the waist. 



Their dress is admirably adapted to the severity of their climate. With 

 their two pair of breeches made of reindeer or seal skin, the outer one having 

 ^he hair outside and the inner one next the body, and their two jackets — of 



