Page:The open Polar Sea- a narrative of a voyage of discovery towards the North pole, in the schooner "United States" (IA openpolarseanarr1867haye).pdf/285

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the top to receive the hair which is gathered up on the crown of the head, and tied into a hard, horn-like tuft with a piece of raw seal-hide,—a style of coiffure which, whatever may be its other advantages, cannot be regarded as peculiarly picturesque.

Their ages could not be determined; for, since the Esquimaux cannot enumerate beyond their ten fingers, it is quite impossible for them to refer to a past event by any process of notation. Having no written language whatever, not even the picture-writing and hieroglyphics of the rudest Indian tribes of North America, the race possesses no records, and such traditions as may come down from generation to generation are not fixed by any means which will furnish even an approximate estimate of their periods of growth, prosperity, and decay, or even of their own ages.

These old people, soon growing tired of the warmth of Hans's tent, went ashore and built a snow hut, and set up housekeeping on their own account; and living upon supplies which they got regularly from my abundant stores, and, with no need for exertion, it was perhaps not surprising that they should prove to be a very happy and contented couple. This snow-hut, although an architectural curiosity, would have excited the contempt of a beaver. It was nothing more than an artificial cave in a snow-bank, and was made thus: Right abreast of the ship there was a narrow gorge, in which the wintry winds had piled the snow to a great depth, leaving, as it whirled through the opening, a sort of cavern,—the curving snow-bank on the right and overhead, and the square-sided rock on the left. Starting at the inner side of this cavern, Tcheitchenguak began to bury himself in the snow,