ESQUIMAUX HABITS. 
133 
excavation is made either on the mainland, or, what 
is preferred, upon an island inaccessible to foxes, and 
the jointed meat is stacked inside and covered with 
heavy stones. One such cache, which I met on a 
small island a short distance from Etah, contained the 
flesh of ten walrus, and I know of several others 
equally large. 
The excessive consumption is the true explanation 
of the scarcity.' By their ancient laws all share with 
all; and, as they migrate in numbers as their necessities 
prompt, the tax on each particular settlement is 
