THE ESQUIMOS 
speaking they are markedly lax. The wife 
of an Esquimo is held in no higher esteem 
than are the goods and chattels of the house- 
hold. She may at any time be loaned, bor- 
rowed, sold, or exchanged. They have no 
marriage ceremony. 
The amusements of the Esquimos are few. 
Tests of strength and endurance occur be- 
tween the men of the tribe ; and visits are paid 
to the various settlements, during the long 
winter nights; and songs and choruses are 
sung, accompanied by a kind of tambourine 
which is made from the bladder of a walrus 
or seal, and stretched across the antlers of a 
reindeer. 
The Esquimos are a very superstitious peo- 
ple. In the event of a fatal illness, the vic- 
tim, just before death, is removed to a place 
outside the igloo, for should death enter the 
igloo that dwelling would instantly be de- 
stroyed. If the deceased be a man, he is rolled 
up in a sealskin, and strips of rawhide are 
lashed around the body to keep the skin intact. 
He is then carried to his last resting place. A 
low stone structure is built around the body to 
protect it from the foxes. His sledge, con- 
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