302 



THE POLAR WORLD. 



perior to the neighboring Indians. They have such a good idea of the hydrog- 

 raphy and bearings of the sea-coasts which they frequent as to draw accurate 

 charts of them. Thus Parry, in his second voyage, was guided in his opera- 

 tions by the sketches of the talented Iligliuk ; and while Beechey was at Kotze- 

 bue Sound, the natives constructed a chart of the coast upon the sand, first 

 marking out the coast-line with a stick, and regulating the distance by the day's 

 journey. The hills and ranges of mountains were next shown by elevations of 

 sand or stone, and the islands represented by heaps of pebbles, their propor- 

 tions being duly attended to. When the mountains and islands were erected, 

 the villages and fishing-stations were marked by a number of sticks placed up- 

 right, in imitation of those which are put up on the coast wherever these peo- 

 ple fix their abode. In this manner a complete hydrographical plan was drawn 

 from Cape Derby to Cape Krusenstern. 



The Esquimaux have a, decided predilection for commercial pursuits, and 

 undertake long voyages for the purposes of trade. Thus on the continental 

 line of coast west of the Mackenzie, the Point Barrow Esquimaux proceed 

 every summer, with sledges laden with whale or seal oil, whalebone, walrus- 

 tusks, thongs of walrus hide, and seal-skins, to the Colville River, where they 

 meet the Esquimaux from Kotzebue Sound, who offer them in exchange arti- 

 cles procured from the Tchuktchi in the previous summer, such as iron and 

 copper kettles, knives, tobacco, beads, and tin for making pipes. About ten 

 days are spent in bartering, dancing, and revelry, on the flat ground between 

 the tents of each party, pitched a bow-shot apart. The time is one of pleasant 

 excitement, and is passed nearly without sleep. About July 20 this friendly 

 meeting is at an end : the Kotzebue Sound Esquimaux ascend the Colville on 

 their way homeward, while those from Point Barrow descend to the sea, to 

 pursue their voyage eastward to Barter Reef, where they obtain in traffic from 

 the eastern Esquimaux various skins, stone lamps, English knives, small white 

 beads, and, lately, guns and ammunition, which in the year following they ex- 

 change for the Kotzebue Sound articles at the Colville, along with the produce 

 of their own sea-hunts. 



In this manner, articles of Russian manufacture, originally purchased at the 

 fair of Osti'ownoje by the Tchuktchi, or from the factors of the Russian Fur 

 Company on Sledge Island, in Bering's Straits, find their way from tribe to 

 tribe along the American coast as far as Repulse Bay, and compete among the 

 tribes of the Mackenzie with articles from Sheffield or Birmingham. 



A hunter's life is always precarious — a constant alternation between abun- 

 dance and want ; and though the Esquimaux strikes many a seal, white-fish, or 

 walrus in the course of the year, yet these animals do not abound at all sea- 

 sons, and there are other causes, besides improvidence, which soon exhaust the 

 stores laid by in times of abundance. Active exercise and constant exposure 

 to cold are remarkable promoters of atomic change in the human body, and a 

 very large supply of food is absolutely necessary to counterbalance the effects 

 of a rapid organic combustion. As a matter of curiosity. Parry once tried 

 how much an Esquimaux lad would, if freely supplied, consume in the course 

 of a day. The following articles were weighed before being given to him : 



