THE ESQUIMAUX. 



293 



ing of the inmates engenders a sufficiently high temperature to keep him 

 warm. Having also a decided predilection for raw flesh and fat, he requires 

 no great expenditure of fuel to cook his dinner. The lower part of his dwell- 

 ing being under the surface of the snow, likewise proiuotes its warmth. 



But of whatever materials the hut of the Esquimaux may be constructed — 

 of snow, as I have just described, or, as is frequently the case, of stones, or 

 earth, or drift-wood — everywhere, from Bering's Straits to Smith Sound, it is 

 equally well adapted to the climate and to circumstances. Thus when Dr. 

 Scoresby landed in 1822 on the eastern coast of Greenland, he discovered some 

 deserted Esquimaux huts, which gave proof both of the severity of the cli- 

 mate, and of the ingenuity evinced in counteracting its rigors. A horizontal 

 tunnel about fifteen feet long, and so low as to render it necessary to creep 

 through on hands and feet, opens with one end to the south, and leads through 

 the other into the interior of the hut. This rises but little above the surface 

 of the earth, and, as it is generally overgrown with moss or grass, is scarcely 

 to be distinguished from the neighboring soil. The floor of the tunnel is fre- 

 quently on a level with that of the hut, but often also it is made to slant down- 

 ward and upward, so that the colder, and consequently heavier, air without is 

 still more effectually kept off from the warmer air within ; and thus the Esqui- 

 maux, without ever having studied physics, make a practical use of one of its 

 fundamental laws. But their most ingenious invention is unquestionably that 

 of the one-seated boat, the " kayak," or the " baidar." A light, long, and nar- 

 row frame of wood, or seal or walrus bone, is covered water-tight with seal- 

 skin, leaving but one circular hole in the middle. In this the Esquimaux sits 

 with outstretched legs, and binds a sack (which is formed of the intestines of 

 the whale, or of the skins of young seals, and fits in the opening) so tightly 

 round his middle, that even in a heavy sea not a drop of water can penetrate 

 into the boat. Striking with his light oar (which is paddled at each extrem- 

 ity) alternately to the right and to the left, his. spear or harpoon before him, 

 and maintaining his equilibrium with all the dexterity of a rope-dancer, he flies 

 Hke an arrow over the water ; and should a wave upset him, he knows how to 

 right himself by the action of the paddle. The " oomiak," or women's boat, 

 likewise consists of a frame-work covered with seal-skins, and is roomy enough 

 to hold ten or twelve people, with benches for the women who row or paddle. 

 The mast supports a triangular sail made of the entrails of seals, and easily 

 distended by the wind. The men would consider it beneath their dignity to 

 row in one of these omnibus- boats ; they leave this labor entirely to the women, 

 who, to the tact of a monotonous song, slowly propel the oomiak through the 

 water. Judging of foreign customs by their own, the Esquimaux between the 

 Mackenzie and Coppermine rivers made the strange mistake, as Sir John Rich- 

 ardson relates, of supposing that the English sailors whom they saw rowing in 

 company were women. One of them even asked whether all white females had 

 beards. 



The weapons of the Esquimaux, and their various fishing and hunting im- 

 plements, likewise show great ingenuity and skill. Their oars are tastefully 

 inlaid with walrus-teeth ; they have several kinds of spears or darts, adapted to 



