CH. Ill] 
Tribes Around the Pole 
17 
They are cleanly compared with the Samoyeds, with a 
higher type of head, more intelligent-looking, and with 
a reddish- white complexion. They are a hardy and 
thriving people, with many children, but indolent when 
not forced to exertion by want of food. They live in 
large and commodious tents both winter and summer, 
which are unlike those of any other tribe. The Chukchi 
tents consist of an outer and an inner tent. The outer 
one is of seal and walrus skins sewn to each other, and 
stretched over wooden ribs bound together by thongs. 
The inner tent is covered with reindeer skins and a layer 
of moss, and is warmed by oil lamps. The tents are 
usually pitched on the necks of land separating the strand 
lagoons from the sea. The boats of the Chukchis are of 
walrus hide sewn together, and stretched on a frame of 
wood or bone. Their dog sledges are very light and 
narrow, with runners of bone covered with layers of ice, 
and they use shoes for their dogs, to prevent their feet 
from being cut by the ice. Their snow-shoes, for the 
winter, have a frame of wood crossed by well-stretched 
thongs. Expert with lance, bow and arrows, fishing line 
and nets, they live on the spoils of the chase, to which 
cloudberries are added in favourable seasons, when the 
fruit is able to ripen. The Chukchis carve animals and 
other figures during the long winter nights, and display 
considerable skill and ingenuity in the conversion of all 
the means that Nature has placed within their reach to 
their own uses. They are brave and independent, in- 
telligent and well disposed, and on the whole must be 
considered to be the finest of the Arctic races. 
The dogs used for draught by the Siberian tribes have 
much resemblance to the wolf. They have long projecting 
noses, sharp upright ears, and long bushy tails curling 
over their backs. They vary in colour, and the size of 
a good sledge dog is about 2 feet 7 inches in height, and 
3 feet in length. In summer they dig deep burrows in 
the ground or lie in the water to avoid mosquitos. The 
feeding and training of dogs is a special art, but their 
natural sagacity is extraordinary. 
The homes of the Eskimo along the Arctic coast of 
North America present an aspect which differs, in several 
respects, from those of the Siberian coast. The American 
M. I. 
2 
