Show american ameri Ame Amerl cin clil cill journal THE INDIANS the arctic ocean is encircle d dby by i a coast dast three thousand leagues in extent an and d contains an area azea of four and a half millions of square mites miles the ill shores ores of this mysterious sea aea rock ribbed and icebound boundy indented with numberless inlets and bays and increased in available extent by many islands and ancl capes are by three races of men differing from the rest of the species and from each other along the asiatic shores of the arctic the or fish ealm eating tartar tribes wander in pursuit of fish and game the north american coast from russian alaska to danish greenland is occupied where it U Is occupied at all by b the Esqui maux the northern shores of europe which complete the grim circle that shuts in the icy lcy ivea luea sea are inhabited by the dae lap elanders laplanders La landers e tween these cheso three races there are certain obvious points of resemblance they are all short abort of stature and of or swarthy complexion they are all accustomed ac us to A a wandering life they all have one enemy in common the COLD and one peril in common starvation compelled to devote their whole elter eiter energies gies to the preservation ber of their existence against the same came dangers they thuy resemble one another much in their habits and way ay of life between the Esqui maux mauz and ind the fish eating tartars tartara Tar tars there are indeed so miny many points of resemblance and the Behring straits offer so slight an obstacle to communication between the two continents that there seems no reason to doubt the common theory that the american esqui maux are the of offspring spring of the siberian ta tartars tal Tar tars it is even asserted that an Esqui maux from greenland and a northern can tan partly understand each others language certain aln it is that their similarity in physical formation in character and customs s striking in the extreme chevery the very words which travellers trav ellers employ in describing one rane race are those ordinarily used in describing the other oilier 1 but the La are neither tartars nor indians they are europeans and christians they have brown hair and complexions completions complex ions bronzed more by smoke and wind than by the nature of kheir race they go to church and are loyal subjects of their king they have servants riel niches riches leso ieso magistrates and all the essential features of a civilized nom pom community single La possess I 1 mess less as manyas many as two thousand reindeer lap landers landers ladders drink brandy take snuff make cheese wear cloth and ribbons understand the rudiments rudiments of mechanical trades and give entertainments rude nude as they are in manners costume and habitations tat ions and slender as their knowledge is of all things excepting the arts indispensable to their own existence the L La are fairly entitled to rank among the civilized races of the world the Esqui maux alone of all the Ame Americ american ni tribes efteni across the entire continent they occupy miles of coast and they are all alike in language appearance employment and habits an Esqui maux orom from rom alaska an au Esqui maux from labrador and an Esqui maux from greenland if hey should chance dance to meet in an Esqui maux vil i i margean iago lago n the western coast of baffino Baff ins bay would each find himself perfectly at home and competent without initiation or instruction to enter eliter into all the pursuits of the settlement no estimate can be made of the number of these people probably it is not very great for as they derive their subsistence mainly from the sea their setie betle set le ments imenes are never found more than one hundred miles inland and seldom a tenth part of that distance considering however the immense extent of to coast coast toast ast along which their settlements are scattered it Is probable that the Esqui maux are more numerous than any other north american trie has ever been an Esqui maux Is in appearance merely a 0 bort hort fat indian his ilia hair is coal black coarse and long lie he pulls out his beard by the roots his cheekbones cheek bones are high and his cheeks plump his face is 13 broad round und and flat the nose be being I 1 ng half buried by the protruding cheek cheeks his eyes are small black and dull his mouth 1 is little and nd round the under IT lip being somewhat thicker than the other his han ban hands 3 and feet are small ana soft his ids IF legs 1698 gs are thick and clumsy he has a tendency tendency to corpulence his hs forehead Is low and retreating and he stands about bout five feet in his sealskin seal skin boots unlike the indians of milder latitudes his good humor is imperturbable he never fights never quarrels and seldom steals an honest good tempered slow industrious ingenious patient people are the Esqui esquin maux aux the name by which they call themselves is ig karolic Kar olit a word the ta of which is unknown ii the word 1 Esqui maux ii said to be an obsolete french word which rn meant bant eaters of raw klesli a name jiame conferred upon them by some early french navigators who were wera amazed to see them devour the flesh and drink the blood of the fresh taken seal senj cold and hunger as we nye just observed are the two enemies egin against sV which the Esqui maux a are re compelled almost ceaselessly to contend from the middle of october to the middle of april the it thermometer ranges from twenty to forty five deares degres berl berm zero we who are wont to shiver whenn the mercury falls to the freelin freezing point 0 it can bornt hute hule idea of the cold to which the esqui maux main is exposed arctic navigators tell ns us that they arb are obliged cherr rhe the he thermometer stands at only twenty hive five degrees below zero to cut their ugar with ith a saw and break their dried apples heir their W salt meat welt dir vir lamp oil their butters buttery their prepared au uch alid their preserves wyth with an axe llon ulon on gling out for a tramp on cm o n the ice the beard aud and eyebrows eye brows are covered in a moment with a mar war frost the actie and under lip form p pendulous end ulous beads braa of vf ice if the unwary hunter hunten r put cut cot oi h ha tongue it is instantly frozen to the icy crust of the lips and must be disengaged ed by the hand the chili chin and the upper jaw freeze a together bv by the beard and the mouth can bot be opened the iron barrel of the gun burns VI if atif low the tile hand t through two 1 1 pairs 1 airs 0 of t the e thickest mittens and ind tho ick knice enice nife feels 6 eks els hot bot lot wilhe in tia pocket athe the pt pocket handkerchief handkerchief damp with he confused cond condensed used moisture of the trie cabla cabin is 3 no sooner exposed to the air thi than a i n lt i is Chad changed ged into wo a shw shingle its corners sharp ha enough to ser her serre serve re fora toothpick tooth pick an officer can not touch a brass button of his uniform without blistering his hand during the snort short summer gummer odthe of the polar regions the Esqui maux live lve ive in seal bla pia tents and feel the ibe weather sultry ai at ten degrees above the herbez freez ing point but when the tho long iong dark winter sets in they clothe themselves in sealskin seal skin and form huts of snow or turo turf which bey they hey light and warm with w lamp arl dr kane hane ahie afie describes la in his graphic gral grai 1 anner manner one of these winter huts A square enclosure of stone or turf is raftered over with driftwood drift wood or whale bones and then roofed in with earth mosses and broken up boats on one small smail aperture apen aper nura tura of eighteen inches square covered with the scrap scraped e d intestines of the seal forms the window and a 1 long iong on 7 tu tunnel u nel nei like ilke entry try opening to the south a and na not exceeding three feet in height leads leaa io lo a skin covered door inside perched upon an elevated stall with an earthen lamp tamp to establish a I 1 i focus several families reside together 1 chave have sn as many as four twenty pers persons in a an apartment sixteen feet fek square some of the huts are garnished with little tinselled tin selled pictures purchased of navigators others are a very caricature of discomfort mouldy bouldy dark and anc unc fetid tid their rude ceilings distilling filthy water pid bid and sometimes covered with introverted grass which had originally orgin ally formed part of the outer covering but now intrude upon the greater warmth h orthe of he interior an Esqui maux la Is not a creature of delicate sensibilities the great ally of th the estul Esqui maux in his warfare both with the elements element a and end a n with necessity is the 8 SEAL 4 iilo ilio hi obligations lo 10 thereal the seal are numberless lit eats its flesh drinks its blood points his dart with its bones makes string of its intestines uses its smallest bones for needles covers his boat lines his hut but forms his tent and makes his clothes of its ils bukh flexible and impervious skin what the reindeer is to the Lapland ertho erthe the tha sheep to the australian bushman the ox to the south american ican herdsman and the man to the african chief the seal is to the Esqui maux 4 1 of all creatures the tha iseal Is one of orthe odthe the most curious and interesting ile he has been called the connecting link between the fish and the beast and it nd physically he may be bi aut put he is more intelligent lige n t and more human than anya anyn any nimar animal except the dog and seems beems to have nothing in common with the fish except a fondness for their flesh his life appears to be one of constant happi happl happiness ness noss he is ever at ti play tumbling about on the ice treading water with his body peering five feet out I 1 of the sea and looking about with so intelligent I 1 an expression of count countenance enarce that the hunter hesitates to fire and feels when he has killed one like a murderer I the the tha first act of a seal after emerging says dr eane katie is a caefus survey of his limited horizon for this purpose he lie rises on his fore flippers and stretches his is neck in a manner almost doglike dog og like ilke this manoeuvre even during apparently I 1 y complete silence is repeated every few minutes he e next commences with ins his bind flippers and tail a most singular movement allied to sweeping brushing nervously as if either to rub something from himself or from beneath him then amis a it complete series of attitudes stretching collapsing 1 curling wagging then a luxurious basking rest with his face towards the sun and his tail towards his hole presently he waddles off about two of his own awkward lengths from his retreat and begins to roi roll over and over pawing in the most ludicrous manner into the empty air stretching and rubbing his glossy hide bide like a ft horse he then recommences ills liis vigil basking in the sun with une uneasy aay alertness for hours at the slightest advance of the hunter up goes the prying head one searching glance and wheel big tig on his tail as on a pivot he lie is at his hia bole and descends head foremost A fellow so watchful and active as this is lit not easy to catch or kill but the Esqui maux i is s a match for him in cunning and more inore than a etca deac n for him in fit skill and patience behind a screen of snow or canvas within darting distance of a teai teal hole in the ice tie the shaggy hunter bunter takes his seat and waits and waits with the mercury tt at twenty five degrees below zero an Esqui esq maux w will ill remain motionless inthe open air for six hours his eyes fixed upon the aper oper aperture tura tuna and his lanco lance ready A seal emerges at length and is at once transfixed but it is at seal catching in his wod renowned ren owned boat or kayack in the open sea t nat nat the tiie esqui maux olg Ois displays plays his greatest klit kill ki j and acquires fame among ills 1113 fellows this bayack is a mar bellous and beautiful structure re it plays so great a part in ill Esqui maux life fill euli is eo so indispensable to Esqui maux existence that he he who would uil tui eer der oer stand stanl the Esqui maux must understand the kayack ki yack it is common commonly y eighteen feet in length its breadth on deck twenty one inches its depth just sufficient to allow its owner to sit on the bottom boti bott om and have b lils ills is hips above the sides its fraine frame is composed of mere laths baths of wood and is covered with tanned sealskin seal skin the deck is seal real skin aico also glued securely to the sides only a djin hole being left in the middle into in to which filo ilie himself ile he so completely fills up the hole with his body and so closes his gar benti over its elevated rim that lie will roll ovir ov r and over in the water boat and all without the slightest da dauger danger ilger tiger in iii this tills eggshell egg shell sheil craft le la he lie can car shoulder should fr with the utmost ease and carry all day without fatigue an Esqui estul maux will fearlessly venture upon the roughest sea and such risks richs us the heroic wha lemen of new london would justly shrink from lie he mars nars nothing indeed but the perforation of the seal skin skia hull bull which ay iy the mere friction of use becomes some times limes so thin and transparent that floating particles in the sea can be seen through it as as through glass giasi to propel liis his little bark the e kid sid single I 1 1 1 u paddle paddie admirably ia adapted n every us is purpose u rp dge rr 1 thus constructed an and furn farn furnished libed its sealskin seal feal skin covering renewed every year the kayack ft the i life the pride the pastime of its owner lie ile 1 carries it on his shoulder into the surf dressed in i seal seail skin from head to foot with a belt drawn J tight around his neck and his liis head covered with 1 a hood ile he squeezes himself into the manhole man hole s lashes his clothes to the tho rim and then boat and man being as it were one creature he launches gleefully out towards the breaker a frolic or a seal hunt As he approaches the b breakers reak ers the roaring lip of green water bends roof like over him down cowers the tile pliant man his lils right shoulder buried in the wave and his head bead bowed upon bis breast n instant ns tant and he tie emerge on the outer side with a jutting impulse shaking the water from his mane and preparing for a fresh encounter with caution and in perfect t silence he be approaches bis bis his prey A harpoon with a line attached at the end of which is a bladder float is poised in fit his hand in a moment he lia iia has bas a thrown his body back and sent his weapon h home ome the float goes bobbin bobbing gover over the water but the harpoon has pierced the creat creatures pres gres lungs and he soon rises to the surface for breath the hunget is upon him instantly and el either elther by a skilful gash with his knife or by darting his ills unerring lance gives him the fatal wound the death struggle ever the seal is fastened astern and find towed ashore viliore to the hunters family who stand awaiting his arrival on the beach and receive him and liis his prize with joyful acclamations upon the wife devolyer dev olyes the auy duty duy of disposing of the precious carcass on other occasions the tho Esqui maux hunt h tint the seal in parties and in larger boats which are al always paddled 1 1 addled by women in summer they w wander r inland 1 11 d with their canoes on their shoulders with which to cross the lakes and streams and spend the season in hunting huri hurl ting deer the arrow and the lance are tle tle the weapons employed in the chase and they are skilful wilful enough in wield ing the lance to pierce a bird on the wing all AH the world has heard of the Esqui maux dog |