THE ESQUIMOS 
friends who live in what was once a land of 
plenty, but which is, through the greed of the 
commercial hunter, becoming a land of frigid 
desolation. The seals are practically gone, 
and the walrus are being quickly exterminated. 
The reindeer and the musk-oxen are going the 
same way, for the Esquimos themselves now 
hunt inland, when, up to twenty years ago, 
their hunting was confined to the coast and the 
life-giving sea. 
They are very human in their attributes, 
and in spite of the fact that their diet is prac- 
tically meat only, their tempers are gentle and 
mild, and there is a great deal of affection 
among them. Except between husband and 
wife, they seldom quarrel; and never hold 
spite or animosity. Children are a valuable 
asset, are much loved, never scolded or pun- 
ished, and are not spoiled. An Esquimo 
mother washes her baby the same way a cat 
washes her kittens. There are lots of personal 
habits the description of which might scatter 
the reading circle, so I will desist with the bald 
statement, that, for them, dirt and filth have no 
terrors. 
51 
