Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 26.djvu/794

774 of the water, and, if there was no particular reason for haste, they would stop, and every one would hold his gun in readiness to cover the animal if he should come up again to take breath.

All the Eskimos have returned by the middle of October, and, as it is now getting perceptibly cold, they immediately begin to build their winter houses. Several families occupy a common tent, which is now covered with brush, and over this is spread another coat of skins. The bedroom in the back of the hut and the meat-and lamp rooms on both sides of the door are raised about two feet, so that the cold air shall not cool the living-room too much. When the lamps are burning, the room soon becomes comfortably warm, and at least a little fire is kept up day and night. Later in the winter the people begin to build their snow-houses, the size of which varies according to the number in the family. Large blocks are cut out of the wind hardened snow, which the Eskimos skillfully build up into a high dome. The joints are carefully closed, and the whole is smoothed on the outside. The wind and the cold air are kept out of the dwelling room by means of smaller domes and a long entrance-way. This hut, covered with skins, makes a very nice winter home.

Since the Eskimos require much blubber in the winter for their lamps, their principal hunt is for the seal. So long as the ice does not cover the whole sound, they go to its edge to shoot the seals, which are then dragged ashore with harpoons. This kind of hunting is very dangerous, for they unavoidably have to go upon the drift-ice to secure the dead seals, and this is very liable to move when the wind suddenly changes. Thus a young man, a few seasons ago, was held for three days on a cake of ice without being able to get to the shore or having anything to eat. He evidently did not lose heart, for, while his fate was still uncertain, he made a comic song about his misfortune, which is now sung by all the Eskimos in the region.

If the sea is wholly covered with ice, guns can not be used, but the hunters have to go to the breathing-holes, which the seals keep open all the winter, in order to harpoon them when they come up. The Eskimos also travel much at this season. Sledges flit from one settlement to another. Friends and relatives visit one another, and a lively trade springs up at the whalers' stations. I, too, began to travel, and, as I lived at various times in different settlements, I had opportunities to become well acquainted with the manner of life and the character of the people. At every settlement I had a host, at whose house I was accustomed to stay when I was there. A white man, moreover, is a much-esteemed guest, for he usually brings fresh provision of tobacco and bread.

In May, when the heat has become stronger, the seals are accustomed to lie upon the ice and sun themselves. Then the Eskimo brings out his gun again: he carefully approaches his victim, who is generally warily looking around; lies down upon the ice and imitates